


Princess Ursa's Palace for Oddities

by erisaspider



Series: Princess Ursa's Palace for Oddities [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1940s, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Aromantic Asexual Azula, Azula & Zuko (Avatar) Have a Good Relationship, Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Suki (Avatar), Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Friends to Lovers, Gay Zuko (Avatar), How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Jet (Avatar) mentioned - Freeform, Minor Violence, Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Sokka (Avatar), POV Third Person, Past Jet/Zuko (Avatar), Period-Typical Homophobia, Sane Azula (Avatar), Some angst, Somewhat, That's right baby, Time Travel, World War II, Zuko and Azula are Twins, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, actually they're all mixed race, and, and they have brown eyes, because I said so, but she's not good either, it's both, katara and sokka are mixed race, kind of, like she's not bad, she's just nice, teo can walk but he has to use a cane, toph is still blind, ursa (Avatar) is complicated, yue's invisible in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 54,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisaspider/pseuds/erisaspider
Summary: The untimely, and frankly gruesome, death of their grandmother leads Sokka and Katara to a little island on the coast of Wales, where the sun never shines and the fog is never-ending in search of some answers and of a group of strange people with even stranger abilities.Based on Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda/Kya (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Past Hama/Kanna (Avatar), Past Jet/Zuko (Avatar) - Relationship, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Yue (Avatar)
Series: Princess Ursa's Palace for Oddities [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062356
Comments: 87
Kudos: 156





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't get this idea out of my head, so against my better judgement, I am writing two unfinished multi-chaptered stories at the same time.

When Katara and Sokka were young, their grandmother used to tell them stories of a time before theirs. Stories of a time in which she lived in a beautiful children's home surrounded by all types sorts of odd and magical things.

The stories she tells start off with her heroically running away from her home in Poland, away from her churlish fiancé, and making it all the way to a little island on the coast of Wales. There, she met a kind woman named Ursa Peregrine who so graciously took her in and allowed her to stay at her children's home. You see, Miss Ursa ran a children's home for special kids, and special kids only. These were the children that were disowned by their parents, these were the children that were forced to run away from home, these were the children that had to hide, these were the children that had no place to call home. Those were the children that Miss Ursa took in.

But there was also something else that made these children special; these children were able to do things that an ordinary man wouldn't dare dream of. These children were odd, anomalies, if you will.

Under the cover night, right before their bedtime, Kanna, their grandmother, would breathe words of a pair of twins who were able to set things on fire with their bare hands.

Under the light of the full moon she would whisper words of a boy who was lighter than air.

Right beside the fire place she would sit and recount stories of a girl stronger than ten men combined and of a boy who would dream the future. 

And Sokka and Katara believed.

Well, Katara believed; Sokka was skeptical.

But they both listened anyways. And sometimes, just sometimes, Sokka would dare let himself believe that maybe, somewhere out there is a home in which a group of children with impossible abilities reside. 

Sokka had started to believe more after Katara had accidentally frozen the pond outside their house in a fit of rage during the summer. 

He had remembered Katara excitedly running to their Gran-Gran's house, spouting off about she was special too and how now that they had discovered that she was an odd child too she would be able to go live in the little home in wales with all the other special children. He remembered that was the first time he had truly felt jealous of Katara. He remembered that being the first time of many in which he worried about being left all by himself just because he wasn't as special as his little sister. And that was the first time he had seen his Gran-Gran's face make that expression.

"Katara," she had said gravelly, "You cannot go to the children's home." 

Katara had stopped bouncing in place and turned to face Gran-Gran, "Why not?" She had asked.

"It is dangerous. If you go there, something bad may happen to you, and I will not rest well at night knowing that lives of my grandchildren could be in danger because of me," she had said. She glanced up at Sokka and met his eyes before turning back to Katara, "You must not use your special ability, Katara, ever, and you musn't tell your parents, either." 

Katara had frowned that frown of hers, the one she did when she was more sad than mad but didn't want anyone knowing, before nodding in understanding.

That night, Gran-Gran had revealed how her whimsical tale ended.

There was a bomb raid. It hit the island and destroyed part of the home. The children nearly died. That was when Gran-Gran had decided that the war could not last any longer. She had cut off her hair and donned on men's clothes that were given to her by a friend. When she entered that home she had been Kanna Sanuik, when she left, she left it Kangiak Portman. She had joined the men's division of the British army and spent the next five years fighting. Fighting for the lives of her people, fighting for the lives of people like her, fighting for the lives of the children who had grown to be like a family to her.

"I had promised them that I would come back," she had said. She then turned to look at the fire place and sighed, "I never did." 

Noticing the sad look on her grandchildren's faces, Kanna had smiled softly, "Here," she said, "Let me show you some pictures of my old friends, to cheer you up."

She reached for a wooden box at the coffee table and opened it carefully. She took out a handful of black and white photographs.

She pulled out a picture and showed it to her grandkids. The picture was a portrait photograph of a pair of twins, a boy and girl. Sokka couldn't see what color their hair or clothes or eyes were, but he assumed that their hair was colored black. They were standing side by side and were leaning against each other, they were both looking straight at the camera, the girl with a bored expression and the boy seemed to be smiling softly. The boy appeared to have a large scar taking up part of his face.

"These are Azula and Zuko," Gran-Gran said, "They are pyrokinetic, that means that they were able to manipulate fire."

Gran-Gran chuckled fondly at what must have been a nice memory, "Those two were thick as thieves, they always seemed to have a disregard for Miss Ursa's rules. Azula would tell Miss Ursa the cover stories and Zuko would sneak out of the house wearing a theatre mask to wreak havoc on the town. Sometimes, I would join him." 

She shook her head, a soft smile gracing her lips, before she put the photo down in favor of another one. 

This one depicted a flying boy with a rope tied around his waist, the boy seemed to be short. He was bald and had an arrow tattooed on his forehead. On the ground was another boy who was holding on to the rope tied to the flying boy's waist, as if the flying boy were a balloon. He had shaggy hair and there seemed to be a stalk of wheat hanging out of his mouth, he was smirking at the camera. 

"These are Aang and Jet," she said.

"Gran-Gran, that boy is flying!" Katara had exclaimed, pointing at the bald boy. 

Gran-Gran had chuckled, "Close," she said, "He's floating. You see, Aang here was lighter than air. Why we had to be constantly holding him down to keep him from flying away! He even had to wear lead shoes to keep him down to the ground. The boy holding the rope, that's Jet. You know, Jet had bees living inside his stomach."

Katara made a face, "Gross," she said.

"That must have felt weird," said Sokka, also making a face of disgust.

"You would have thought so, but Jet loved those bees as if they were his family. He even called them the freedom fighters and gave each of them a name."

"What were their names?" Katara asked.

Gran-Gran smiled, "The ones that I remember were Smellerbee, Longshot, Pipsqueak, and The Duke." 

Sokka made another face, "Those names are weird."

Gran-Gran just chuckled before pulling out another photo. This one was of a girl standing next to a pair of floating clothes.

"That's Suki, and the clothes next to her are Yue."

Sokka frowned, "The clothes have a name?"

"No, the girl wearing the clothes has a name. Yue is invisible, and Suki was stronger than ten men combined. Together, the pair of them were unstoppable. They were very close friends, the two of them."

And the night went on like that, with Gran-Gran showing the kids more and more pictures of her old friends, until eventually, she showed them the last picture in the box.

"This is Miss Ursa," she held up a picture of a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties. She had long hair that had been pulled into a neat bun, she appeared to be gazing at something--or someone--behind the camera and there was a soft smile on her face. Around her neck was hanging a small pocket watch that had been turned into a necklace. She had kind eyes that reminded Sokka of his mother. 

That night, listening to Gran-Gran prattle on anecdotes of her life with the children, with the pictures to accompany it, made that life seem peaceful and nice. It made it seem like that was the type of life you would want to have. It seemed ideal, and Sokka had spent many a night wishing that he too had a special ability like his sister so that he could be invited to the home, despite their Gran-Gran's warnings. 

It was only fitting, that years later, he had to be reminded of the harsh reality of life in the form of his Gran-Gran's death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kangiak is an Inuit name that means river head


	2. Goodbye, Gran-Gran

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka gets a concerning call from Gran-Gran at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick thanks to everyone who left a kudos and/or commented in the last chapter, I really appreciate it.  
> This story is honestly doing a lot better than I was expecting it to, so thanks for that.

Sokka proudly looked at his masterpiece. A Spanish Galleon made out of paper towel packages. The display proudly stood out from the rest of the dreary store and anyone who came in looking for paper towels was sure to notice it right away, it was a real eye-catcher. 

Sokka was so engrossed in admiring his majestic ship--which he proudly dubbed the El Barco, because it was a _Spanish_ ship--that he hadn't heard the manager, Bato (Also known as Dad and Mom's closest friend) approach him from behind. He didn't notice Bato at all until the older man let out a tired sigh from behind him.

Sokka swerved around and smiled brightly at the man once he came face to face with him, "Oh, hey, Bato."

Bato smiled at him, a sort of tired smile, and said, "Sokka, as much as I love your ideas, I did tell you that the paper towel display was supposed to be the Empire State Building, not a ship." 

Sokka gave an unconvincing frown. "Oh, really?" He asked, "I had no idea, guess I must have zoned out or something when you were telling me that."

Truth was, Sokka was well aware that the display was supposed to have been of the Empire State Building and not of a Spanish Galleon. He had chosen to build a Spanish Galleon instead because he had been trying to get fired from his job for months now. 

Sokka's parents ran an eco-friendly supermarket chain called _The Southern Tribe_ , which was great and all because a lot of its profits went into charities, relief funds, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, protests, etc. etc. the issue was that Sokka, as much as he loved what the supermarket chain was doing, wasn't very interested in working for it. Sokka had bigger and better plans for his future. What those plans were? He had no idea, but he knew that there were better things he could use his time on, the whole supermarket that isn't an evil virus of capitalism idea thing was more of Katara's thing anyways. 

But his parents had expectations for him, expectations for him to take over and run the stores and continue on with their legacy, and those expectations got in the way of his future of sailing around the world while trying to figure out what to do with himself.

"I'll get started on rebuilding it," he said.

It's not like Sokka could just quit his job, it'll break their hearts.

"You don't have to do that," said Bato.

So he was trying his best to get fired, if he gets fired his parents will think that he's incompetent to run a store chain and they'll just let him to do whatever he wants.

"No, no, I got it," Sokka insisted. He leaned over and kicked El Barco, the whole thing collapsing immediately and making a huge mess of paper towel packages.

"Oops," he said.

Bato looked him and sighed before walking away.

But he was also the owners' son, he _couldn't_ get fired either; he was stuck here.

Sokka sighed and began to clean up the paper towels, rearranging them so that this time, the display took on the form of the Empire State Building, humming a catchy song that had been stuck in his head for days under his breath.

Less than ten minutes later, Bato emerged from the break room, "Sokka," he called out, "call for you on line two."

Sokka sighed and got up, nodding at Bato as he passed him. 

It wasn't odd or unusual for Sokka to get a call during work, it often came in the form of Katara calling him just to annoy him for a few minutes before going back to hanging out with her friends--Katara was only fourteen, so she didn't have the misfortune of having to have a job yet--and when it wasn't Katara calling, then it was probably Haru calling to ask Sokka for the fiftieth time if his mustache was really _that_ bad (it was, in fact, _that_ bad) but, it couldn't have been either of them calling right now because it was rather late, and by this time Katara was at home with their parents, waiting for Sokka's shift to end, and Haru had his own job. 

So, if it wasn't the two of them, who else could it have been? Sokka supposed it could have been his parents, but why would they call him? More specifically, why call the work phone and not his actual phone? Maybe it was an emergency, but if it _was_ an emergency then they could have just called his personal phone. 

Sokka sighed as he picked up the landline, "Hello?"

His Gran-Gran's voice ran out through the phone, "Amarok, is that you?" She asked. There was something in her voice that worried Sokka. Gran-Gran sounded panicked, worried, on edge, all of these were things that were never heard in her voice. 

"Gran-Gran?" Sokka asked, "Are you alright?"

"Amorak, I'm so glad I reached you! I need my key. Where is my key?"

"What key?" Sokka asked.

Gran-Gran chuckled, it was unnerving; Gran-Gran never sounded like that when she laughed. When she laughed, she laughed with warmth radiating from her, it sounded comforting; it sounded like home. When she laughed now, however, it sounded cool and chilly.

"Don't play games with me," she said, "Did your father put you up to this? Just tell me where the key is, Sokka, he doesn't have to know. It'll be between us."

"Gran-Gran, I'm worried about you," said Sokka, "I don't know what keys you're talking about; did you take your pills today?"

"They're coming for me!" She yelled, "They're coming for me, don't you understand?! I don't know how they found me after all these years, but they did! And now they're coming!" 

"Who's coming?" Sokka asked.

According to dad, Gran-Gran had been paranoid lately, having nightmares about her time in war, when she was fighting at the frontlines masquerading as man. Sokka supposed that 'they' were the German soldiers. 

"I'll be fine," Gran-Gran said suddenly, "But _you_ stay away, Amorak, and make sure your sister keeps away too, both of you, stay away! I know how the two of you can be, and I need you to stay away, it is dangerous!" 

"Gran-Gran--"

"I'll be fine," she repeated, "I can handle 'em, all you gotta do is stab them in the eyes and cut out their tongues, but I need to find my key first! Where is my damn key?"

"Gran-Gran, please--" 

Sokka never got to finish, she had hung up on him. 

Sokka sighed and leaned his head against the wall. After a minute, he got up and ran his hands over his face in worry.

He supposed he had to go make sure Gran-Gran was alright. 

Sokka clocked out early, briefly letting Bato know about what happened with Gran-Gran.

He just nodded in response and said, "Go make sure she's okay, Sokka, I'll take care of the rest of the store." 

Sokka said his thanks and ran out of the store, getting into his car and driving away as quickly as he could.

The key that Gran-Gran had been referring to (presumably) opened up a safe filled with weapons. Guns, knives, daggers, etc. and if Gran-Gran kept up this behavior, Sokka's parents would have no choice but to put her in a home. Nobody wanted that, Not mom, not dad, and certainly not Katara and Sokka, but they would have no choice. Gran-Gran was becoming worse and worse in her old age and Kya, Sokka's mother, was beginning to worry that she'll become dangerous soon, which is why they had locked up her weapons in a safe and hid the key away from her in the first place. 

Sokka kept on driving, passing a blind man watering his lawn on the way, before eventually reaching Kanna's house.

Entering the house, it looked like a scene straight out of a horror movie. Sokka looked around with dread, noticing the ripped up curtains, the couch cushions that had been so ripped up the springs and stuffing were poking out, the kicked over coffee table on the ground, the lamp thrown onto the ground with a broken lamp shade, and just a horrible mess in general.

"The hell happened here?" Sokka asked under his breath, stepping further into the house and closing the front door. 

"Gran-Gran?" He called out, worry evident in his voice.

Either somebody had broken in, or Gran-Gran had really lost it. 

He walked into the kitchen, the mess in there was almost as bad as the mess in the living room, and glanced out the window that opened out to the backyard. He noticed a lone flashlight lying there, incriminating, in the middle of the grass.

He directed his eyes around the room and noticed that the sliding glass door was left wide open. He impulsively ran out the door--not thinking things through for what seemed to be the first time--and out into the backyard. 

He grabbed the flashlight and ran into the woods situated behind his Gran-Gran's house.

"Gran-Gran?!" He called, "Gran-Gran, where are you?!" 

Distantly, he heard some type of animal make a growling noise, but he didn't really register it, too pre-occupied on finding Gran-Gran.

"Gran-Gran!" He tried again. 

He then came upon a horrible sight; something straight out of Sokka's worst nightmares.

"Gran-Gran!" Sokka cried, tears welling into his eyes as he registered the lifeless form of his Gran-Gran's body. 

He quickly ran over to her, gathering her into his arms. A few tears slipped out and down his face as he looked down at her body.

It was not a pretty sight, her stomach and chest had been mangled by something, something inhuman. There was blood seeping through her clothes, coating Sokka's hands. Her eyes were closed.

"Gran-Gran..." Sokka whispered in horror, more tears slipping down. It didn't seem real, Gran-Gran was strong, she had been through so much--she had fought in a _war_ , it couldn't end like this. It couldn't!

Gran-Gran opened her eyes and looked at Sokka, her gaze seemed cloudy and hazy--as if she wasn't quite registering that he was there, or that _anyone_ was there.

"Amorak," she began weakly, "Sokka."

"Gran-Gran, don't speak! Save your strength--I have to--I have to take you to the h-hospital! I have to--"

"Sokka, take your sister and go to the island," she said.

"What? Gran-Gran--"

"Promise me, Amorak, you and your sister have to leave, it is not safe here. Go to the island, you'll be safe there, at the home."

_The home? The children's home? Is that what she's talking about? But wasn't it dangerous to go there?_

"I...I thought that if the two of stayed here...I thought it would be s-safer here--I th-thought that I could protect the t-two of you... I sh-should have told the two of you a long time ago..."

"Told us what?! Gran-Gran...?"

"There's no time now. Find the bird. In the loop...on the other side of the old man's grave. September third, 1940. Emmerson...the letter. Tell them what happened. Amor--"

Gran-Gran never got to finish. Her breathing evened out, her eyes clouded, her body went still, and she didn't speak again. 

Sokka numbly let go of her body and stared down at it. A tear slipped, then another, and another, and before he knew it, he was breaking down into sobs. 

"Gran-Gran," Sokka whispered, wiping at his eyes, "I love you." 

Sokka's mourning was interrupted by a growling noise, the same one he had heard earlier, coming from somewhere behind him.

He jolted up into a standing position and quickly grabbed the flashlight, aiming it ahead of him.

He, once again, dropped the flashlight in horror at what he saw before him. 

Standing before him, was a giant monster that vaguely looked like a deformed man. It had giant eyes, the pupils and the irises were pure white, and the sclera was pure black. The thing had a giant mouth that was spread into an awful grin, showing off its razor-sharp teeth, and, oh, it had three tentacles for a tongue. 

Sokka felt his face pale, and then he blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Kya is alive and well in this universe, and Kanna is not. And Sokka just watched his grandmother get brutally murdered in front of his eyes by a creepy monster and Katara did not, so this is a trauma reversal, I guess. Instead of Katara bringing up her dead mother, it'll be Sokka bringing up his dead grandmother.
> 
> Toph: Yo, what up? I'm Toph, and being blind is my game.  
> Sokka, sighing wistfully, looking off into the distance, and touching his bone choker: My Gran-Gran used to have poor eyesight.
> 
> A Spanish Galleon is a large, multi-decked sailing ship used by Europeans during the 16th to 18th centuries.  
> El Barco literally translates to The Ship in Spanish. Naming a ship The Ship seems like a very Sokka thing to do, IMO, and Sokka's a smart guy, I feel like he would learn how to speak Spanish purely for fun.  
> Amorak is an Inuktitut word that means wolf.


	3. A Letter & A Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Therapy sessions and birthday parties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, thanks to everyone who left a kudos and/or a comment, it gives me fuel.
> 
> I just want to give a quick cast list before we start this chapter, as in, which Avatar character is what MPHPC character.  
> Miss Peregrine-Ursa  
> Jacob Portman- Katara & Sokka  
> Emma Bloom- Azula & Zuko & Hama  
> Millard Nullings- Yue  
> Olive Abroholos Elephanta- Aang  
> Bronwyn Bruntley- Suki & Toph  
> Horace Somnusson- Teo  
> Enoch O'Conner- Mai & Azula  
> Hugh Apiston- Mai & Jet  
> Claire Densmore- Kiyi  
> Fiona Fraunfeld- Ty Lee (kinda)  
> Victor Bruntley- Jet  
> Grandpa Portman- Kanna  
> To those who've read the books this means everything, to those who have not, this means nothing. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

The last thing that Sokka remembered of that horrible, terrible night was looking into the face of that awful monster. Everything else after that was just black, as if his memory had fallen out of his head. Sokka couldn't have passed out, because otherwise he would be dead. No, he had somehow managed to get away from that thing, he just couldn't remember how. 

Therapists, doctors, and psychologists said that he had simply dissociated; dissociation being a defense mechanism that the brain used to block out memories that were too traumatic. What Sokka couldn't understand was why his brain had chosen to forget what happened after he had seen that monster but not forget coming across his grandmother's bloodied and mangled up body and then having to see her die in his very arms. 

Katara's answer to his query had been a simple, "The brain is weird and complex," accompanied with a shrug. 

Following the incident, Sokka had been unable to get one day of peaceful sleep, his dreams always being plagued with images of that awful grinning face of a giant monster, and if it wasn't a monster that was haunting his psyche, then it was his Gran-Gran's final moments that did. Her eerie words circling and echoing around his head in a taunt and her lifeless form mocking him, reminding him that he was failure and that in the end, he had been too late. 

Sokka could not make heads or tails of Gran-Gran's last words; he figured that maybe, if his brain were in the right state, he'd be able to figure out it quickly enough, but as of right now, it was difficult to do much critical thinking. He had thought of getting help from someone else, but he figured that to anyone else that was unaware of Gran-Gran's past--Gran-Gran's _real_ past--at the children's home, her words would just sound like the ramblings of a mad person on the verge of death. Maybe if Sokka were anyone else, maybe if Sokka hadn't seen Katara do freaky magic water things, maybe if Sokka hadn't seen the pictures, and maybe if Sokka didn't respect and love his Gran-Gran as much as he did, then he would agree with those people. But, Sokka had done and seen all of those things, and most importantly, Sokka respected Gran-Gran and what she had to say, he knew her, he knew that she wouldn't have wasted her final moments saying those things unless they were of the upmost importance. So, in his free time, when he wasn't attending his therapy sessions, he would go through every letter and journal belonging to Gran-Gran that he could find, in hopes of making sense of her words.

Of course, Sokka had, oddly enough, no luck in finding anything--something he attributed to his brain not being psychologically healthy. Sometimes, when it was really late and he was just tired and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but at the same time, going to sleep being the last thing he wanted, Sokka would entertain the thought of enlisting Katara's help on this matter. In the end, he always decided against it because Katara was going through a lot right now, he didn't want give her more to worry about.

Summer vacation had just started and Sokka was not faring well. He had not attended the last few weeks of school (he took a week off for mourning, and then he had not been allowed to return the remaining weeks because his mental health was _that_ bad) he had not been allowed to go back to work (he supposed that, in the end, he had gotten what he wanted in a cruel, ironic way) and Sokka had decided that leaving the house in general was not worth it (and dangerous), so he didn't leave the house at all unless it was to go to therapy. 

Kya and Hakoda were doing their best to get Sokka to leave the house and do something other than sit in his room and look through his grandmother's old things, but it was to no avail. A month into this and Kya had tried talking to Sokka about it.

"Sokka, sweetheart," she had called out from the other side of the door, "I understand that you're going through something awful right now--I do. And I know that you, rather unfortunately, had to witness something awful, and that, maybe, looking through your grandmother's old things might be your way of coping with that, but it isn't healthy for you to spend everyday holed up in your room, Sokka, I'm worried for you. Please, just go outside, for fifteen minutes, you don't have to do anything, just spend fifteen minutes out in the sun and then you can go back to your room, that's all I ask of you, please."

Sokka had ignored her.

Katara tried to coax Sokka into going out with her and her friends; Sokka always declined. He did, however, let her into his room sometimes and they would just sit there in silence and try to comfort each other. Sometimes, they would reminisce about when they were younger and of all those weekends that they spent at Gran-Gran's house. Sokka would have preferred to not talk about, but he knew that Katara's way of coping was by talking about her feelings, so he would just listen. 

Haru called sometimes, to try and see if Sokka was alright and if he was doing any better. The answer was always no, but it was nice to talk to someone who didn't always remind him of That Day. 

What was making matters worse was that no one believed him when he said that he had seen a monster. Nobody but Katara, that is. Katara had listened to Gran-Gran's stories, so Katara knew better, the didn't talk about it though, because the last thing Sokka wanted to do was talk about that day. Sokka doesn't know why he's so surprised that no one believe him, he's _Sokka_ , the Science Guy. Sokka knows that if he had heard someone else say these things, he wouldn't believe them either. He supposed it hurt because everyone kept on saying that it was a wolf who had killed Gran-Gran. Gran-Gran had always said that Sokka was her little wolf, and now having people say that it was a wolf that killed her stung.

But, Sokka knew it wasn't a wolf. He had seen with his own two eyes that monster creep out from deep into the woods and approach him and what was left of Gran-Gran. But sometimes, just sometimes, Sokka wasn't even sure himself if what he had seen was real or if it was just a result of the trauma that came from watching his grandmother die in his arms. It was an awful feeling, not being able to count on your own memories to tell you the truth.

His therapist, Fumihiro Zhao, a rude sort of fellow, the type of person that thinks he's better than everyone else and acts like it, with awful sideburns and, oddly enough, golden eyes, insisted that the monster that Sokka had seen was just a hallucination. He said, that Sokka must have been so devastated about his grandmother's passing that his brain began to disassociate from the situation, and as a result, invented that monster thing and blocked out the rest of his memory. Dr. Zhao said it was all a result of Acute Stress Reaction.

Sokka, however, despised Dr. Zhao and didn't believe a single word he said, although, he supposed there might have been some truth to that statement. 

Right now, Sokka was sitting in Dr. Zhao's office, glaring at the black and white fish circling each other in Dr. Zhao's fish tank, and lying through his teeth.

"I hope you aren't just telling me what you think I want to hear, Sokka," Dr. Zhao was saying while scribbling something down on his clipboard.

Sokka hummed and said, "I'm telling the truth, sir."

This caused Dr. Zhao to put down his clipboard and stare at him, clearly not believing a single word he said.

"You're telling me, that you haven't had a single nightmare this week?"

"Well...maybe one," Sokka amended.

Dr. Zhao hummed in acknowledgment, " _Just_ one?"

Sokka nodded, "Just one."

Dr. Zhao stroked his ugly beard and followed Sokka's line of sight. 

"What about your grandmother's last words? You've been able to figure out what she was trying to say?"

"No," Sokka admitted. Figuring out by what she meant with island had been easy, the rest, not so much. "Her last words were just crazy talk, rubbish; the ramblings of a crazy old woman on the verge of death."

Internally, Sokka winced. But, he was never one to talk his feelings out very often, especially not with someone like Dr. Zhao. All he wanted to do was finish his session and go home as soon as possible. 

Dr. Zhao levelled him with a look, "You don't mean that," he stated. And it wasn't so much the words he used, but more of the way he said them that tipped Sokka off. Yes, he didn't mean what he had said about his grandmother, but, he didn't like the way Dr. Zhao said it--as if he knew everything, as if he knew that he was right without really knowing much in the first place (and he _didn't_ know much about Sokka, Sokka had made sure of that) the man was just so infuriating.

"I do," Sokka deapanned. He glanced at the clock, his session ended in ten minutes.

"So, that's it then?" Zhao asked, "Her death was meaningless?"

_Why do you care?_ Sokka wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth shut and stood up.

"This is just a waste of time," he said.

"Disappointing," Zhao sighed, "You don't strike me as a quitter."

Sokka glared at him, "Then I guess you don't know me very well, then."

* * *

When Sokka got home, it was to find all the lights turned off.

"Hello?" He called out.

"SURPISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" 

Somebody turned on the lights and he saw what remained of his small family pop out from behind the couches and armchairs with party poppers. 

Normally, Sokka would _love_ having a surprise party thrown for him, but right now, a party was the last thing he wanted.

Sokka smiled weakly at everyone, at Katara, and mom and dad, and Bato, and said, "Thanks guys."

A few minutes into the party and everyone had gathered around him while he opened his presents. Right now, he was in the process of unwrapping a gift from Hakoda, which had turned out to be a digital camera.

Hakoda smiled brightly at him and patted Sokka on the shoulder, "I'm outlining a new book of wildlife, mostly on fishes and birds, and I was hoping you'd help me take the pictures." 

Kya reached for another gift lying on the coffee table, "This one's from Katara," she said.

The gift was rectangular, it was wrapped in dark blue wrapping paper with a silver bow and there was a tag on the side saying, _Happy birthday! To: Sokka. From: Katara & Gran-Gran!_

Sokka looked down at the tag and then back up at Katara, who just smiled softly at him.

"Actually," she said, "It's from Gran-Gran. I found it in her study when we were cleaning out the house, I think she meant for you to have it as a birthday gift but..." She trailed off and just sighed.

Sokka nodded before looking back down at the gift and ripping off the wrapping paper. The gift was a book titled **The Selected Works of Ralph Waldo Emmerson.**

Sokka blinked before opening the book. There was a message on the first page that read, _To Sokka Sanuik Portman, and the worlds he has yet to discover--Your Gran-Gran._

Sokka blinked away a few tears before looking back up, "Thank you, Katara," he whispered and Katara shot him a small smile. He looked back down at the book and noticed a letter sticking out between the pages. Sokka looked at it for a few moments before his mind caught up, sending his brain into overtime.

_Emmerson...the letter!_

Sokka stood up suddenly, clutching tightly onto the book, "You'll have to excuse me for a moment," he said before running up the stairs, ignoring the distressed cries from his family asking if he's okay.

Sokka ran into his room and slammed the door shut. He gently placed the book down at his desk and sat at his desk chair, still clutching to the envelope. Opening the envelope, he pulled out three pieces of paper, two of those turned out to be photos in black and white, the other paper was a letter, _the_ letter. He quickly glanced at the photos. One of them was of a woman's silhouette standing against a doorframe and smoking a pipe, the other was of a group of kids at the beach.

Sokka recognized the kids at the beach. One of them was Zuko, the arsonist. He was sitting down on a beach towel surrounded by a group of people, he was glancing at the camera, not frowning, but not smiling either, he had one knee up and an arm resting on that knee and he was in 1940s swim trunks. Next to him, was Jet, the beekeeper, sitting with an arm thrown around Zuko's shoulders in an intimate yet not too intimate way, he was smirking at the camera and there was a wheat stalk hanging out of his mouth, and if he looked closely, he could see a bee flying near him in the picture. Standing behind Jet was a floating 1940s bikini, Sokka assumed this was supposed to be Yue, who was invisible. Sitting down on Zuko's other side was a teenage girl that Sokka learned to recognize as a younger version of his grandmother. She was also wearing a 1940s bikini and her hair was pulled back into a bun with its usual loopies. Sitting down behind young Gran-Gran was another teenage girl sitting on a beach chair. Sokka had only seen one or two photos of this girl, but he was still able to recognize her as Hama, a girl who was able to manipulate blood, whatever that meant. 

Sokka looked at the picture silently taking in every detail. They all looked so happy, it made him a bit sad to think about how things had to end for them.

Sokka shook his head before looking at the letter. The writing was a neat, cursive scrawl that made it a bit hard for him to read, having been used to print handwriting, but he still managed. The letter read:

_Dearest Kanna,_

_I hope this letter finds you able and in good health. It has been such a long time since you have last written to us, but this letter is not to admonish you, it is to let you know that we still think of you often and pray for your well-being, our dear, brave, handsome and beautiful, Kanna!_

_As for life on the island, not much has changed, but you knew that! But of course, quiet and orderly is how we prefer things! Although, with Aang and Zuko and Teo and Toph all living under the same roof, quiet and orderly doesn't last very long. I wonder if we would be able to recognize you after all these years, though I'm certain you'd be able to recognize us--those few of us who remain, that is. It would mean a great deal to have a recent picture of you, if you've one to send, that is. I've included a fairly recent snap of myself, and a much older photo of a nice memory to remember and reminisce the olden days, wherein the only thing we had to worry about was stopping Aang from flying away and stopping Zuko, Azula, and Mai from getting a sunburn._

_H misses you terribly. Won't you write to them?_

_With respect, admiration, and love,  
_ _Headmistress Ursa Roku Peregrine_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hama's in this now. I wasn't planning on her to be in this story, but, plot points. Also, I think she's cool and I like her (save for the whole kidnapping thing)
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading.


	4. Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Sokka (and Hakoda and Kya) get to the island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I am updating this story even though it's been less than a day since the last update, but you know what, I'm bored and have nothing better to do. 
> 
> There probably won't be an update for this story tomorrow, and there definitely won't be an update on Friday, because I celebrate Christmas and I'll be spending it with my parents. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Sokka's eyes widened as he reread the signature over and over again.

_Headmistress Ursa Roku Peregrine. Peregrine. Peregrine!  
_

Gran-Gran had told Sokka to find the bird, and when Sokka was younger, Gran-Gran had always said that Miss Ursa, the woman in charge of the children's home, was a wise old bird who smoked a pipe. The woman in the picture--the one of the silhouette--must have been the headmistress, and one of her surnames was Peregrine, a type of hawk, and she was smoking a pipe. 

Gran-Gran had wanted Sokka to go to the island and find the bird, this is what she meant. She wanted Sokka and Katara to go to the island where Gran-Gran's old friends still lived at and tell them about what had happened to her, because the monster attack must have been connected to the island, but why and how? Is this what Gran-Gran had meant all those years ago when she said the island was dangerous, but didn't explain why? Because there monsters that were going to hurt them if they went there? If that was true, then why tell them to go there now? What had changed? Was it less dangerous now, or was it just as dangerous as before? And what did Gran-Gran mean by loop and old man's grave?

There were so many questions, and none of them had answers. But--if he _were_ to find an answer, then he would have to start by going to that island.

* * *

Convincing his parents to let him and Katara spend most of their summer vacation at tiny island off the coast of Wales was no easy task. But Sokka was a stubborn man, and most importantly, _Katara_ was a stubborn woman, so with their combined forces they were bound to wear their parents off eventually. Katara still didn't know about Gran-Gran's last words to Sokka, and she didn't know why Sokka had suddenly decided it was a good idea to go to the island that Gran-Gran had forbidden them from going to, but she understood that it was something that needed to be done, and--secretly--she was hoping to find the children's home to see if it was still running and if she could find someone to help her with her ability. Sokka planned on telling Katara everything once they reached the island, but for now, he just wanted her to enjoy the impromptu vacation.

It was a lot easier to wear Hakoda and Kya down once Hakoda find out that Cairnholm, the island, was a very important bird habitat, and once Kya got the stamp of approval from Dr. Zhao, who said that the trip might be a good way to let go of the grieving past and move on into the promising future, that was when Kya had decided to turn the trip into a family vacation. 

The family of four, once five, were all currently standing on a boat on their way to the island. The island in question was barely visible in the thick fog and the distance only made it harder to see. "Look at this fog," Kya was saying, trying her best to find the good in the spontaneous family trip.

"Fascinating!" Hakoda exclaimed, looking up at the sky, "Is that a Peregrine falcon? I might have to get started on my new book right this minute--it's a real beauty too!"

Sokka sighed and glanced down at the water, only to see a large shape deep in the water that vaguely took on the form of a boat. "Is that a shipwreck?" He asked.

The man next to him turned and said, "Yup, you got that right, young sir. This whole area's filled with shipwrecks--Cairnholm's a real nautical graveyard."

Sokka nodded and turned to look at the ever-approaching island. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katara discreetly trying to make waves in the water and failing. They were getting closer and closer to the island. Soon enough, Sokka will be able to complete Gran-Gran's last wish.

A few minutes later and the boat was docking on the island. Right the minute they stepped off it Katara and Sokka were met with disappointment. In Gran-Gran's stories, the island was this place were summer seemed eternal. The sun shined brightly everyday, the grass was as green as it gets, the water was bluer than the blue sky, the clouds were fluffy and the perfect shade of white, and the waves were playful yet gentle.

Looking at Cairnholm now, it was nothing but disappointment after disappointment. The sun was completely blocked out by gray clouds, there was fog everywhere, the grass--what little was left of it--was damp and sad looking, the water, reflecting the dreary sky, was also grey and there was not a single wave in sight. 

Gran-Gran had always said that Cairnholm was always alive--an island filled with colorful characters who all stood out from each other. It was never quiet, everyone knew each other, and everyone was loud; just the way Gran-Gran liked it, because according to her, quiet and ordely was overrated, and when she had left Poland it was to get away from quiet and ordely. 

Right now though? The island was dead. 

Katara and Sokka exchanged a glance, and Sokka knew that she was thinking the same thing he was because she said, "It's been what? Seventy years? A lot of things change between that time."

Sokka just sighed and said, "I know." 

He thought back to the letter that Miss Ursa had sent. In that letter, Miss Ursa said that the island hadn't changed much. Was she referring to the fact that the island hadn't changed much since 1940 or the fact that the island hadn't changed much since whenever the last time she had sent a letter to Gran-Gran had been? 

Sokka followed after his family as the made their way through the island. Hakoda and Kya were leading their group, Katara was in the middle, following her parents closely behind, and Sokka was in the back by himself. Noticing how far behind her brother was, Katara paused and waited for him to catch up before continuing to walk.

"I have something to tell you once we get to the hotel," Sokka whispered to Katara.

Katara gave him a quick glance before nodding and turning back to look ahead. 

"Up there," said Kya stopping and pointing to a run down looking bar, "That's where we're staying.

Hanging from the wall where the front door was, there was a large sign.

_**The** _

**_ Singing Nomad _ **

_Wines, Ales, & Songs_

_Room ~~s~~ to let_

_Only food_

_Only bed_

_Only phone_

_In town!_

"Only phone?" Katara asked. Sokka pulled out his phone from his pants pocket and turned it on. Just as expected, no service. He sighed and shoved it back into the pocket before turning to his sister, "No phone," he confirmed. Katara huffed and frowned slightly, "Great."

Entering the bar, there were only three people inside. The place itself was dusty and old, as if people just didn't bother coming in here anymore, which regarding the state of the island, very likely. The three people were two patrons, getting drunk on a Wednesday morning, and the bartender, who Sokka assumed owned the bar. The bartender was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He was dressed as a hippie, with all types of purples and a flower lei hanging from around his neck and he had long, black hair that had been let loose and it didn't seem as if he brushed it.

The bartender turned to the family of four, "Heyyy, customers," he said, "I'm Chong, what can I get you, you cool cats?"

_Cool cats?_

"I'm Kya," Kya said, "and this is my family. We rented out a room here under the name Sanuik?" 

Chong nodded, "Yeah, I remember you," he said, sounding like he was high, "You rented out the only room. Here's your key, have fun!"

He tossed her a key before turning back to the drunkard who looked like he was a drink away from passing out. 

The family awkwardly shuffled through the bar, making their way up the rickety stairs on the other side. The stairs creaked and made a lot of noise, so if someone wanted to sneak out, it would be pretty difficult to do so without alerting anyone.

Chong never said which room was theirs, so the Sanuiks were left to play a guessing game with the key before finding the right room that got unlocked. There were multiple rooms upstairs, so Sokka was left to wonder why the sign out front said that there was only one.

_Maybe there's something seriously wrong with the other rooms like...a cockroach infestation?_

Their room was at the very end of the hall, something that Chong could have easily said. It wasn't very spacious, it was pretty small, actually, and there were only two single beds on either side of the room. 

"Well," Kya said, turning to her family, "Katara, Sokka, it looks like the two of you will have to share the bed on the left, your father and I will share the bed on the right. We'll unpack, get something to eat at the bar, and then we'll go to the beach so that your father can start working on his book, everybody on board?"

There were murmurs of agreement, and with that, the family started to unpack so that they could move on with what was next on the agenda.

In between the two beds, there was one bedside table with an oil lamp, making Sokka feel as if he had been transported back into the 19th century. Above the table was a window that opened out into part of the island, although there wasn't much to see of it, the island being dead and boring. The whole room was made out of wood--the whole place was made out of wood, actually, a big fire hazard, Sokka noted. Above Katara and Sokka's bed was a painting of a sail boat and above Hakoda and Kya's bed was a creepy blue and white theatre mask of some type of spirit. It had a smile that was stretched out into an awful grin and it had fangs. Sokka couldn't tell if the mask was supposed to be smiling or frowning. Maybe both?

Sokka finished unpacking what little belongings he had brought and turned to look at Katara, who had also finished unpacking. Behind him, his parents were still in the process of it. "Can I talk to you, outside?" He asked.

Katara turned around to look at her parents before looking at her brother and nodding. 

"Mom, Dad," Katara began, "since Sokka and I finished unpacking, we're going to go explore the place a bit and wait for the two of you downstairs, is that alright?" 

Hakoda and Kya looked at each other and had one of those silent eye contact conversations that only couples who knew each other too well could do. Hakoda turned back to his kids, "Yes, that's alright. But stay inside the bar, okay?"

Sokka and Katara nodded in unison before leaving the room. Sokka shut the door closed and turned to his sister after checking that the hall was empty. He took a deep breath before he starting to speak.

"When Gran-Gran...died," he started, noticing the way Katara flinched slightly, "she told me to go to the island with you, the island in question being Cairnholm, presumably. She also said to find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave and to find a letter."

Sokka paused and looked at his sister. She looked confused, but stayed silent nonetheless, only nodded to signal him to go on.

"Well, in the book that you gave me for my birthday, the one about Ralph Waldo Emmerson, there was an envelope stuffed in there, and the envelope had a letter in it."

" _The_ letter?" Katara asked.

Sokka nodded, " _The_ letter," he confirmed, "and as it turned out, the person who had sent the letter was Miss Ursa. You know, the one that--"

"--The one that ran the children's home that Gran-Gran stayed at when she was younger, yeah, I know."

"Right, well it was Miss Ursa who had sent the letter, and--"

"She's still alive?"

"Apparently, and she still lives on the island, and it seems that some of us Gran-Gran's old friends still live here too."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and Gran-Gran wanted us to find them and to go here so that we could..." Sokka trailed off and blinked away a few tears that threatened to come out, the excitement wearing off.

"So that we could...?"

"So that we could tell them what happened," Sokka whispered.

"Oh."

"And something else too, but she never got to say what that something else was. I'm assuming we'll figure that out once we find them."

"That's why you wanted to come here," Katara said, it wasn't a question. 

Sokka nodded, "Okay, we'll stop by the house today, right?"

"Right."

"We'll let Mom and Dad know at the beach."

"I don't want to tell them about the letter and what Gran-Gran said though--I don't think we should."

"Me neither," Katara agreed, "We'll just tell them that we're going to go to the old children's home."

Sokka nodded, "Okay."

Breakfast was uneventful, and so was the walk to the beach, and so was being at the beach. 

Sokka recognized the beach, it being a popular picture taking spot amongst Gran-Gran and her friends, although it looked much nicer in Gran-Gran's pictures. It was a bit hard to tell, with the photos being in black and white and all, but it looked nicer in the photographs. Sokka stood by the edge of the water and watched as Kya cooed over some birds and Hakoda prattled on with facts and such.

"I'm going to need some time here," Hakoda was saying, "That alright?"

Sokka knew very well by now that "some time" meant hours and hours. 

"Sure, Dad," said Sokka, "You and Mom can stay here and look at the birds and Katara and I will go find the house."

Hakoda turned to his children with a slight frown on his face, "Not alone, you aren't"

"We aren't going alone," said Sokka, "we have each other," and with that, he threw an arm around his sister's shoulders and pat her on the arm slightly. Katara shot him an annoyed glare.

Kya turned to look at her children as well, "We mean, with supervision. We've never been here and we don't know how dangerous the island can be."

Sokka nearly scoffed at that before realizing that his mother might have a point, after all, there was a reason Gran-Gran didn't want them going to the island until just now.

"We won't be alone," said Katara, smoothing things over, as usual, "because we'll get someone from the island to take us."

Hakoda and Kya had that silent couple's conversation again before nodding in agreement.

Katara and Sokka quickly left the beach and ran into the nearest store to ask for help. It was a store that sold fish called _The Fish Mongrel_. Inside, there was severe looking Japanese woman chopping up fish. She had long black hair that had been pulled into a very tight looking top-knot, and it seemed that glaring was her default expression.

"Why would you want to go to that decrepit and old house?" She demanded, chopping off the head of a fish, "Nothing but bogland and barmy weather over there. Crazy kids!"

Sokka wanted to point out that the whole island had nothing but barmy weather, whatever that meant.

"Please, Ma'am," Katara pleaded, "My brother and I just want to see what's over there."

Sokka threw in the puppy eyes for extra measure. 

The woman looked in between Katara and Sokka before sighing heavily, "I suppose Hide isn't too busy to take you," she said, pointing to a mean-looking boy that seemed to be Katara's age.

Sokka smirked internally, the puppy eyes never let him down.

The sibling duo followed Hide out of the store and through path throughout the island in complete silence. The path took them out of the town and Hide did not speak ever throughout the walk, he just glared at everything. It seemed that glaring was a common trait in that family. They stopped at the edge of the woods.

"This is as far as I go," Hide said.

"Why?" Sokka asked.

"You're supposed to go with us!" Katara yelled.

Hide ignored the two of them and said, "It just is," before turning around and walking back into town.

The siblings stood there, staring at each other.

"Well," Katara began, "we _could_ go back to town and a spend a day at the beach with Mom and Dad..."

"Orrrr..." Sokka said, "We could go ahead alone and lie about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left a kudos and/or commented.
> 
> Barmy is British slang that means mad/crazy and extremely foolish.
> 
> Yes, I did quote Shakespeare with the chapter title, what about it? Do I read Shakespeare? No? Do I quote him anyways? Yes, because I like to be seen as conceited.
> 
> I don't have a joke this time around about people's trauma, so...  
> Anyways, thanks for reading!


	5. The Old Man's Grave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haunted houses, museums, really old corpses, backstories, and secret tunnel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first time I tried to write this chapter, everything got deleted and I had to start over, that’s why it was pretty late. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented and left a kudos.

"How on Earth does an old woman like Miss Ursa make her way through this obstacle course every time she needs to go to town?" Asked Sokka as he climbed over a fallen tree trunk covered in moss, dirt, and mud. 

The woman at the fish shop was not lying when she said that you'd have to be crazy to want to make your way through here, it was incredibly difficult to maneuver through the woods. There were a bunch of fallen trees you had to climb over, stray tree branches you had to duck from, random holes in the ground that you had to watch out for, not to mention the fog that made it difficult to see. 

Sokka was almost expecting mosquitoes to appear out of nowhere and swarm him and Katara, or for it to start raining.

"She probably gets the kids to go to town for her," said Katara, ducking down to avoid getting hit in the face by a tree branch, "Either that, or she's a spry old woman." 

"I don't think a woman as old as her can still be spry and agile enough to do this often."

"Maybe that's her ability," suggested Katara, "being spry and agile even in her old age."

"If that _is_ her ability, that is really useful."

Katara hummed, traversing the bogland to the best of her ability, "Or maybe her ability is that she never ages, like a vampire."

Sokka scoffed, "Don't be ridiculous Katara, immortality isn't a thing."

"Oh, so being able to manipulate water, and being invisible, and being able to manipulate the earth, _that_ you're fine with, but immortality-- _that's_ where you draw the line?"

"Exactly. Every living thing ages and dies, that's just how it is, somebody can't possibly have an ability that defies the laws of Science like that."

"Sokka, _all_ of this defies the laws of Science."

Sokka opened his mouth something, but that was when he noticed a clearing up ahead. "Whatever, Katara," he said instead, "We'll find out who's right once we get to the house."

"Whatever," Katara scoffed.

Sokka felt excitement build up the closer they got to the clearing and the closer they got to the house. 

When Sokka was younger, he spent a lot of time fantasizing about that house and about what it would be like to live there. About getting to live in a place where everyone was special, a place where the sun shined everyday without fail, a place where nothing bad ever happened and everyone was always happy. An escape from everything bad in the wolrd.

Realistically, Sokka knew that he would never get to live there. For one, Gran-Gran had said that it was dangerous and that he and Katara were never to go there. Then there was also the fact that the home was for special kids only, and the last thing Sokka was was special. 

But now, now Sokka would at least get a taste of the place that often starred in his dreams.

But as always, life and fate--if fate was even real--hated him and the only taste of the house of his dreams that he got was just another monster.

Coming into the clearing, the house from the outside looked like a mess. It was incredibly unkept, the grass outside the place was overgrown. A couple of trees were collapsed around it, and there weren't any signs of life around. It certainly wasn't fit for children, that was a fact. 

Katara and Sokka exchanged a look and started walking closer to the house. 

"Maybe we should knock on the door," said Katara, ever the optimist, "and see if anyone answers."

_Unlikely_ , Sokka thought, "Sure," he said instead.

They carefully walked up the front steps. Much like the stairs at the bar, each stair creaked and groaned in protest at the sudden weight, surely unused to it after many years of not being used.

Sokka stepped forward and looked at the dusty, worn down double doors that might have been magnificent once upon a time. He grabbed onto one of the rusty, antique door knockers, which were shaped like dragon heads, and banged it against the door three times in succession before letting go and stepping back to wait for an answer.

Just as expected, there came none. 

"Sokka," Katara, who had pressed her face against the dusty windows to try and see inside, called out, "Look at this."

Sokka approached the window that Katara was at and stood next to her, mirroring her actions.

Looking inside, it was somehow worse than the outside.

The curtains were moth eaten, on the other side of the room, there was a bay window with almost all of the glass broken or cracked. The walls were covered with mold, and the carpets were all ripped up, showcasing the hardwood floors, which at one point might have been nice, but right now looked like they were about to give in and fall apart any minute.

And that was just the living room.

If Sokka wasn't sure of it before, he was sure of it now. There was no way that anyone lived here.

Katara must have been sharing his thought because she turned to him then, "Maybe...maybe they moved out and into a different house?" She asked in that tone that one used when asking something they already knew the answer to, but asked anyways because they were afraid of the truth and hoped that there was a chance they might've been wrong.

"Somehow," Sokka said, "I doubt that."

* * *

That night at The Singing Nomad, things were lively. 

Apparently, Wednesdays were music night. Scratch that, apparently _every_ night was music night, and it was something Sokka was going to have to get used to quickly, otherwise, he might leave the island with slight brain damage from all the times he hit his head in frustration.

The songs didn't even make sense. Right now, they were signing about a secret tunnel. Yeah, Sokka didn't get it either, but his family sure did, singing and clapping along to the silly songs while he ate his dinner and sulked. 

The Sanuiks were currently eating dinner at the bar, and Hakoda had a beer to accompany it. Sokka didn't know what brand the beer was, but he did know that it was a brand that you could only get from the island, and from that alone, he assumed that it couldn't taste too good. 

Katara wasn't paying much attention to anything but the music, having her braided by Chong's wife (because that guy somehow manage to get hitched) Kya wasn't paying attention either, singing along to the song to the best of her abilities. Even Hakoda was humming along for a bit before seeming to remember that he had a son. 

"So," he said, turning to Sokka, "How was the house, Sokka?"

Sokka sighed dramatically and buried his face in his arms, "Trashed," he moaned.

Hakoda gave him a sympathetic smile, "So, what're you going to do now?"

Sokka shrugged, "Find people to talk around the island. Somebody here has got to know what happened to the people that used to live there," he said.

Hakoda smiled brightly at him thumped him on the back, "There you go," he said, "That's a great plan."

He took a swig of his beer and grimaced. He gently and discreetly pushed the glass away from him before turning back to his son, "So, do you feel like you're starting to get a better idea of on who you're grandma was?" 

"I don't know," Sokka sighed, "I guess. What about you?"

Hakoda sighed and stared down at the bar for a moment before looking back at Sokka.

"Unfortunately," he started, "I gave up trying to understand my mother a long time ago. When someone won't let you in, eventually you stop knocking."

He reached for his beer before seemingly remembering how awful it tasted and stopped, picking up his fork and twiddling it instead.

"Honestly, Sokka, you and your sister were closer to her than I ever was. There was just something there--an unspoken bond between the three of you."

Sokka remembered that day when Katara had accidently frozen the pond outside Gran-Gran's house and the way that Gran-Gran told her not tell their parents. He briefly wondered if Gran-Gran had told his father the same stories she had told them when he was younger. Did she tuck him in at night with whimsical tales of twins who could manipulate fire or about a girl who could bend her body in abnormal ways? Did she ever regale him with the thrilling details of how she ran away from Poland and made it all the way to Wales and took refuge in a children's home for special kids only to cross-dress so that she could fight in the frontline of World War II? Did she ever sit down with him and tell him about a magical house in the coast of Wales where the sun shined everyday and nothing bad ever happened? Did she show him the old pictures of her friends? Or did she just never bother?

"--I never dug too deep with your grandma," Hakoda was saying, "because I was afraid of what I might find. She travelled a lot, you know, and with her being gone a lot I think...I think that there was another man. Maybe more than one."

_What? More than one man? Gran-Gran?_

Sokka chuckled awkwardly, "That's crazy, Dad," he said, not wanting to believe that his beloved Gran-Gran could have an affair--multiple affairs.

Hakoda looked at him, again with that sympathetic smile and continued, "I found a letter once," he said, "I don't know who sent it--the name had been scratched out--but it was addressed to your grandmother. _I love you. I miss you. When are you coming back?_ That kinda thing."

Sokka turned back and frowned at his meal, his ears ringing. He didn't want to believe that Gran-Gran would do something like that but...

Sokka shook his head with resolve, he was going to prove his father wrong. Gran-Gran was an honorable woman, the most honorable person that Sokka had ever met, and if she wasn't honorable, then Sokka wasn't sure that anyone could be.

* * *

The next day, Katara and Sokka had awakened extra early so that they could explore the island in hoped of finding someone who knew about the children's home. 

They ended up at a museum, _Cairnholm Museum_ it was called, because if there was someone who knew a lot about the island and the people who lived there, it would be the curator of the museum.

Katara and Sokka wandered around idly, taking in every display of the museum that they could. There were paintings and diary entries, and display cases with silver coins in them. A particular exhibit that stood out was one on a thing called The Blue Spirit.

There was a theatre mask on display, just like the theatre mask hanging in their room. It was grinning--or frowning--at them from behind the glass case. Right underneath there was an entry detailing the history behind the mask.

" _During the late 1930s, the Blue Spirit wreaked havoc on Cairnholm,_ " Katara read out loud, " _The Blue Spirit was a vigilante that would often steal money, medicine, and food from the local bar, The Singing Nomad. The Blue Spirit would then give the stolen goods to some of the people who lived at the island and were struggling to get by due to the bar's presence. The Blue Spirit mysteriously disappeared after the third of September, 1940, leaving many people to believe that he had passed away in the bomb raid that hit the island._ "

"Interesting," Sokka hummed before walking away to another exhibit. There was that date again, Septmeber 3, 1940. 

At the back of the room, there was a large, elevated, rectangular glass case with lights shining down on it. Sokka deduced that this was the best exhibit in the entire museum. He ran up the steps excitedly and glanced down.

His eyes widened and his face paled at what he saw in glass case.

Right there, was a large, grin with razor wide teeth. White pupils and black sclera. And the form of a deformed man.

It was the monster that had killed Gran-Gran!

It had to come back, it was coming for him and Katara, to finish the job. That was the only explanation. What was it doing here in a museum?!

Sokka stumbled back and nearly fell on his ass.

"Sokka, are you alright?" Katara asked, rushing over to him.

Sokka blinked at the display, realizing that it wasn't a monster at all, just a blackened corpse.

"I see you've met the old man," someone said.

Sokka and Katara turned around to see a young man standing there that had seemingly come out of nowhere. He was of average height for a man and had black hair, which had been tied back into a braid. He was wearing a white collared shirt with a green tie and black suit pants.

"Hello," he said good-naturedly, "I'm Professor Zei, the owner of this museum."

"Hi," said Katara.

"Who's this," asked Sokka, pointing at the corpse and ignoring the way Katara hit him on the arm.

"Don't mind him," said Katara, "I'm Katara and this is my brother, Sokka. It's nice to meet you, Professor Zei."

"It's nice to meet you too, Katara," said the Professor before turning to the display case, "This is our island's oldest resident, better known in archaeological circles as The Cairnholm Man. To us he's just the Old Man, though. He is more than twenty-seven hundred years old, to be exact. He looks so fresh because he was found in the underside of our bog, which has kept him preserved all these years."

"Fascinating," Sokka breathed. 

"It is, isn't it? I'd be happy to show the two of you the rest of my collection, it isn't often that we get visitors here, you know."

"That'd be gre--" Sokka started only to get cut off by Katara.

"Actually," she said, "my brother and I were hoping you might now something about the people that lived in that giant mansion on the other side of the bog."

"Oh, you mean our Haunted Mansion?"

"Yes," Sokka said, "That's the one."

"Everyone's dead. It was a German Air Raid that did it. One of the bombs went off track, and, well...no one's lived there since the war."

Sokka's eyes widened. That couldn't be right, Gran-Gran had said the stuff about the raid and the bombs, but she said that nobody died, not to mention the letter from Miss Ursa, postmarked Cairnholm, sent just last year.

He exchanged a look with Katara, who seemed just as confused as he did.

"Is there anything else you can tell us? About the attack? We'd be very grateful," said Sokka.

"I'm afraid that I don't know much else, but if you really want to know, I can introduce you to my uncle, Wan Shi Tong. He's 83, lived here his whole life and is still sharp as a tack. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to tell you anything you like."

And that was how Sokka and Katara ended up sitting across an old, stern looking man with the museum's curator.

Wan Shi Tong was very old, obviously, his hair and beard were completely white. He was wearing clothes made out of fox fur and he had owlish looking black eyes that were very unnerving, whenever he made eye contact with them, it felt as if he was looking into their souls.

"Of course," he said in a smooth voice, "I can tell you about them. They were very odd. We'd see them in town now and again--the children, sometimes their caretaker--buying milk and medicine and what-have-you. You'd say 'good morning' and they'd do nothing more than smile politely at you before looking the other way. Kept to themselves, they did, off in that big house, in fact, some of them didn't even speak the King's English."

"That's because they were refugees," interjected Sokka, "They were from other countries like Poland, and Austria, and Czechoslovakia, some of them were even from Japan." 

"So," Katara said, "the bombing?"

Wan Shi Tong scoffed and shook his head, "How can anyone ever forget that? We never thought we would get hit, but one night, the bombs began to fall. The noise was absolutely dreadful, thankfully, no one in town was killed. Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about the poor souls at the orphan home. One bomb was all it took to wipe them out."

"Do remember when it happened?" Sokka asked.

"I can tell you the exact date," said Wan Shi Tong, "It was the third day of September, 1940."

_September 3, 1940 again_.

"There weren't any survivors at all, uncle?" Asked Professor Zei.

"Just one," said Wan Shi Tong, "A young man, not much older than this boy here. Walked into town the morning after, not a scratch on him, and his face was completely devoid of emotion. He spoke only once and it was to ask my father when was the next boat leaving for the mainland. He said he wanted to take up arms directly and avenge his old friends."

"We knew that man," Katara exclaimed, "That was our grandmother!"

"Grandmother?"

Katara nodded, "She dressed up as a man so that she could fight in the frontlines, she'd told us this story before but...she never mentioned that her friends had passed in the bombing."

Wan Shi Tong nodded, "When you see your grandmother, tell her that I thank her for her service."

Katara frowned, "I can't she's...dead."

"My condolences."

When they exited the professor's house, Sokka noticed a Peregrine Falcon perched on the window ledge. As soon as it noticed him, it flew away, in the direction of the old house.

_Maybe we gave up too easily._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate making Kanna into a sort of neglectful parent, but it's important to the plot, so I have to keep that plot point.
> 
> The Old Man is none other than Avatar Wan, but I guess he's not really the Avatar in this universe.
> 
> Yes, Wan Shi Tong is a human in this, I'm disturbed too, but I didn't know who else to make Professor Zei related to.


	6. The Haunted House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Sokka explore what's left of the children's home and find some disturbing things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back after my short Christmas break that lasted a total of two days with a brand spanking new chapter. I'm just trying to get these out before Winter Vacation ends and I have to focus on school again. I had fun writing this chapter and we're almost at the end of Act 1. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks to everyone who commented and left a kudos, I appreciate it very much and it makes me happy to see that people are enjoying this story and my writing.

"Sokka, tell me again why we're going back to the house," Katara demanded after nearly tripping on a tree stump and falling into a muddy hole.

"I don't know, Katara," Sokka, who was much farther ahead than his sister, yelled, "It's just my instincts are telling me to go back there!"

"Your _instincts_ ," repeated Katara, not sounding very impressed. 

" _Yes_ , my _instincts_. They're telling me that there's something waiting for us at that house!"

"And to you that doesn't sound, oh I don't know, _creepy_? Weird? Dangerous?" 

"Not at all! Why do you ask?" 

Katara groaned and chased after him, trying her best to keep up while at the same time, trying not to trip and fall into the bog.

They reached the clearing again and, without wasting any time, Sokka ran forward and up the steps and tried to throw the front door open.

What actually happened was, Sokka ran forward, tripped on the bottom step of the stairs, got up again and walked up the rest of the steps and tried to throw the front door open only to realize that it was locked and that the door was, surprisingly, still sturdy after getting bombed and then left to rot for seventy years.

"Oh, good job, Sokka," Katara scoffed. 

"Shut up," he grumbled back.

He took a step back and examined the house. If the front door was locked, then the other natural response would be to knock the door down, which he also couldn't do because that door was really strong for some reason, it didn't even feel like wood, it felt like a rock that was painted to look like wood. The other option would be to climb in through the window, but the front windows looked like fixed windows. Then he remembered the bay window on the other side of the room, ergo, the other side of the house, that had a lot glass missing, giving Sokka (and Katara) ample room to climb in through.

Without wasting any time, Sokka turned and ran to the other side of the house, barely shouting for Katara to come follow him. 

His running halted to a sudden stop when he noticed another door at the side of the house that was wide open. 

Okay, yeah, walking in through the other door _would_ be easier than trying to climb in through a window with a bunch of broken glass on it. 

He paused and waited for Katara, the slowpoke, to finally catch up to him.

Once she did, the first thing she did was glare at Sokka. Typical Katara, always glaring at someone.

"Will you calm down," she asked, "We literally have all day, I don't know why you're in such a rush to enter the house, nobody lives here! We could take all the time we need, you know?"

Sokka rolled his eyes, "Whatever, will you just get inside?" 

Katara glared harder and glanced at the door. Her glare gave way for something in the lines of confusion, but not quite. 

"How'd you know this door was here?" She asked.

"I didn't," Sokka responded, "I was planning on climbing in through the bay window on the other side before I noticed the door."

"The bay window? You mean the one with all the broken glass hanging on it? Sokka, are you _insane_? You could have cut yourself!"

But Sokka wasn't listening because he had already walked into the kitchen while Katara geared up for her "You Really Are Stupid" speech.

"Ugh! You are _so_ infuriating!" Katara yelled before stomping into the kitchen.

Sokka was almost amazed that the checkered floor didn't immediately give way with her elephant feet stomps.

The kitchen, just like the room they caught a glimpse of, was a horrible mess. There were papers and newspapers strewn all of over the room and it was almost a miracle that they hadn't flown out with the door open the way that it was. The cupboard doors were open, as if someone had been looking for something there right before the bomb hit. There were bottles of wine that had been thrown on the floor or that had been knocked over, some of them had been uncorked and, as a result, spilled the wine, leaving stains on the counter and the floor. One particular stain looked a lot like blood, and Sokka hoped to God that it was just wine. 

The wallpaper was peeling, rusty pots and pans lying innocently on the floor, one pot in particular looked like it had some kind of broth in it that had gone so bad, it was now nothing more than a big, black lump. The curtains were moth eaten and Sokka could spot a few cockroaches scurrying here and there.

"This room is disgusting," Katara complained, walking away, "Let's go already, you're definitely not going to find anything in the kitchen."

Sokka ignored and Katara and picked up a paper closest to him. It was a letter addressed to someone named Iroh dated September 1, 1940. Part of the letter had been ripped up and another part had been scratched out, so that the only words eligible were _other bird_. Sokka frowned in confusion before shoving that note in his pants pocket, just in case. 

Sokka then went in the same direction that Katara had walked through and found himself in the dining room. 

The windows to the dining room were all boarded up, the dining table was split in half, and the chairs were tossed around the room, the cushions all ripped up and dirty. There were some pictures hanging here and there and other pictures that had fallen to the floor, the glass of the picture frames having cracked and covered in dust.

Katara was currently squatting down on the ground and inspecting a picture frame that had fallen to the ground.

"Sokka, look," she said, holding out the picture so that he could see, "It's Gran-Gran!"

Sokka bent down as well and looked at the picture, it was indeed of Gran-Gran. The glass was cracked and a layer of dust coated the photo, which was in black and white, but it was clear as day that it was Gran-Gran. She was standing in the garden of the house, right in front of a stone statue of a faceless girl. She was wearing a knee-length dress with a bunch of dots on it that were a bit hard to see with the black and white. Her hair had been pulled back into a loose bun with the hair loopies hanging at the front and she was wearing a necklace of a snowflake, at least, that's what Sokka thought the necklace was of, again, it was a bit hard to tell with the black and white and the dust covering the photo. 

Katara took back the frame, flipped it around, and opened it, sliding out the picture and stuffing it in the pocket of her jeans. 

"There we go," she said softly, "Now we have one more photo to remember her by."

Sokka sighed and glanced around the room, "We should check out what's upstairs, in the bedrooms," he clarified.

Katara gave him a look, "You want to poke around dead people's bedrooms?"

"Yeah."

"Sokka, that's an invasion of privacy!"

Sokka scoffed at her, "Privacy? They're _dead_! I don't think dead people care about privacy."

"I know that I wouldn't like for two noisy kids to poke their nose around my stuff after I'm dead, it's disrespectful."

"Katara, _please_ , this is how historians do their job! How d'ya think that people know a lot about our founding fathers and stuff? By poking around their private things after their death! Come on, let's go!"

He got up and, without waiting for Katara, walked into the next room, the living room, and walked up the stairs. He look back for a second and saw that Katara was close behind, and with that, he started to ascend.

The stairs groaned and protested with every step that they made.

"Um...Sokka, I don't think going upstairs is a good idea, I mean, are you listening to the noises these stairs are making? It sounds and feels like they're going to fall apart any minute.

"Katara, my instincts are telling me to go upstairs," he said.

"Again with the instincts?" She groaned.

" _Hey_ , when have my instincts _ever_ been wrong?"

"How about when you thought it was a good idea to try and get out a fish hook from your thumb by using another fish hook? Or what about the time you insisted on using Haru's jet ski, saying your instincts were _begging_ you to use it despite the fact that Haru said it was really old and worn down and you ended up falling in the river outside his house? Or how about--"

"Okay, I get it!"

"Do you? Do you really?"

"Just...there's gotta be something cool upstairs, okay? And if there is, I want to see what it is."

"Fine, but if the second floor collapses on us and we fall to our deaths, I'm blaming you."

"Whatever."

The rest of the walk upstairs was done in relative silence and when they reached the second floor it was to find that, oddly enough, it was in pretty good shape.

Katara glanced at Sokka, "Odd," she said, "It looks like the bomb didn't hit the upstairs as bad as it hit the first floor."

"Odd," Sokka agreed.

The first floor was really dark too, so Sokka took out his phone and used it as a flashlight. He gestured for Katara to follow him and with that the two siblings made their way down the hall.

"This feels like we're in a horror movie right now," she said, looking at her surroundings.

"You mean, it didn't feel like a horror movie earlier when we were in the kitchen?"

"Well, yeah, but right now too."

"Professor Zei _did_ say that the locals called this the Haunted House," Sokka pointed out, "so maybe we _are_ in a horror movie and any minute now the creepy ghost will jump scare us by throwing a vase or something," he said stopping in front of a door to a bedroom.

There was a plaque next to the door that read _Toph Beifong_ and underneath it, the name was written in braille, at least, Sokka was assuming that's what the braille said. 

The door across from it had the name _Yue A. Nullings_ written on it and braille underneath it.

Katara glanced at the doors before turning to Sokka, "What do we do? Which room should we enter first?" 

"I think we should split up," Sokka said, "You take the rooms on the left and I take the rooms on the right and you take the rooms on the left."

"What? You want to _split_ up?"

"Yeah! I mean, if we're in a horror movie right now, we need to make it as authentic as possible, and that include splitting up."

"How am I going to see Sokka?"

"You have a phone! See ya!" He yelled, running down the hall and away from his sister.

Sokka didn't have much interest in exploring the other rooms--not yet, at least--he just wanted to see Gran-Gran's old room. Gran-Gran had sent him here for a reason and he figured that that reason had to be in her room, or at least, part of the reason ore maybe something that would lead him to finding that reason.

As he ran, he read the names written on the plaques of the door. _Hama E. Bloom, Azula Hamamoto, Zuko Hamamoto, Teo Somnusson, Aang A. E. Gyatso,_ and one door at the end of the hall that just said, _Jet_. 

No Kanna.

He turned and walked across the hall to a door with no plaque on it. The door next to that one read, _Kanna Sanuik_. Sokka smiled slightly before opening the door and stepping through.

The room inside was very neat. The bed had been made, there was a nice bookshelf filled with many books that looked well-kept despite the dust and the fact that they hadn't been used in seventy years. There was a small globe being used as a book holder and next to the bookcase was an ornate, full-length mirror with dust and cobwebs covering it. There was a desk with an old-fashioned lamp and a closed journal next to a fountain pen with a blue ribbon tied around it.

Sokka sighed and sat down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Why did Gran-Gran want him and Katara to come here? What did she think about here at night right before falling asleep? Was she happy? Did she think about happy things before falling to a nice dream or did she lay awake, scared of the monsters that would invetibly kill her? Did she have nightmares like the nightmares that Sokka had? If she did, then at least she was able to do something worthwhile with her life, fighting in a war and being able to become a hero. What could Sokka do? All he was good for was having nightmares and being a pest to his family, dragging them to an awful island with practically nothing on it for a wild goose chase. 

He sighed and ran his fingers over his hair, messing it up. He glanced down and noticed a chest sticking from out the bed.

Was that always there? How did he miss something like that?

He slipped down onto the floor and pulled the whole thing out. It was locked too, that means there had to be something inside it--people don't just lock empty trunks, and this one was just begging to be opened.

Sokka didn't know how to pick a lock, it was just a skill that he never found he needed. But this lock was one of those that you could break, and Sokka had an idea on how to do it.

Sokka grabbed onto the sides of the trunk and began dragging it out of the room and into the hall. Apparently, dragging a very heavy trunk along the wooden floor makes a lot of noise and it caught the attention of Katara, who ran out of somebody named Mai's room. 

"Sokka, what the hell are you doing?" She demanded.

"I'm going to open this thing," he said.

Katara began to follow him, "Okay, why are you dragging it out around then?"

"It's locked."

"And?"

Sokka paused in front of the railing and, making sure that the lock was facing out, shoved it down from the second floor into the first floor.

Katara glared at him. "And," Sokka responded, "I'm going to break the lock by throwing it down. The impact of the first floor should get the lock to snap open, thus opening the trunk."

Katara glanced down before looking back at Sokka, still glaring, "Well, great going, you moron, you broke the floor."

"I did what?!"

Sokka leaned over and looked down. Sure enough, Sokka did in fact break the floor.

There was a huge hole in the wooden floor, opening up into the basement, and if Sokka looked closer, he could see that he was right. The lock broke on impact, opening the trunk to reveal a bunch of photographs inside.

_Photographs? I broke the floor for photographs?_

Katara leaned over too and looked more closely at the ground, she then turned to Sokka, "I cannot _believe_ you broke the floor of a really old house for _photographs_!"

"If Gran-Gran locked the photographs in a trunk, then it's probably really important. We have to get down there!"

"You mean to tell me that you want to go into the basement of a really creepy house from World War II?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you, come on, let's go!"

Sokka rushed down the stairs with Katara reluctantly following him from behind. They made their way down the creepy stairs of the second floor and into the creepy stairs of the basement, where the was no light.

"Katara," Sokka whispered, "take out your phone and turn on the flashlight."

"Why are you whispering," she asked, "Is that formaldehyde I smell?" 

She took out her phone and turned on the flashlight. 

Their faces paled and confusion gave way to horror as they took in the many jars filled with a colorless substance, and floating in the colorless substance were organs such as hearts and eyes and stomachs, but mostly hearts.

"What the hell?!" Sokka exclaimed, jumping back slightly.

"What kind of place was this?!" Katara demanded.

"Man, this really is a horror movie," said Sokka.

"Whatever," said Katara, "Let's just find the photos and get the hell out of here."

Sokka looked around and noticed the photos lying innocently on the floor next to the open trunk. Sokka grabbed one and saw that it was a photo of the back of a girl's head, only, there was a mouth in the back of her head. Another photo depicted another boy, Jet, surrounded by bees, some were even flying out his mouth. There was even one of a girl standing in front of a lake and the reflection in the water had two people with their faces blackened. 

"These photos are just like the ones Gran-Gran showed us of the special children," said Sokka.

Katara leaned in and looked over Sokka's shoulders at the photos, "Is this what Gran-Gran wanted us to find?" She asked.

"Must be," he said, "But why?"

Suddenly, Katara and Sokka heard footsteps from behind. A blue light filled the room and a voice rang out.

"Kanna, is that you?" The voice asked.

Turning around and looking up, Sokka saw two teenage girls looking back at him from up in the hole.

One of them was around Sokka's age, sixteen, and the other one must have been seventeen or eighteen.

The sixteen-year-old had hazel eyes and black hair pulled into a top-knot by a golden hair band. From what Sokka could see, she was wearing a white blouse. She was really pale and her eyes were very intense and calculating, and she had a bored look on her face, a look that screamed _I'm better than you._ In her hands, she was cupping a blue flame.

The other girl, the older one, had brown skin and black, wavy hair that had been pulled into a very loose bun. Her eyes were brown, like coffee beans, and she had freckles covering her face. She was wearing what looked to be a white dress with a dark blue collar and trim. She had a hopeful, but confused expression on her face, and she was looking right at Sokka before her eyes widened and they shifted up to look at Katara. 

Sokka recognized them both as Azula and Hama, Gran-Gran's old friends. They were still alive, and apparently, they were still young, somehow.

Sokka stood up, about to introduce himself to them, but they took off running before he could.

"Wait," he cried, running away and up the stairs, not bothering to look to see if Katara was following, "Don't go!"

"Sokka!" He heard someone cry, but he paid them no mind.

He followed them out of the house and into the bog, "Stop!"

He heard footsteps following him from behind, but he didn't turn around.

While he and Katara were exploring the house, it had started to rain, making it more difficult to run, especially in the already difficult to traverse bog but the girls up ahead ran through it with ease, disappearing into the fog. And as long as the girls kept running, so did Sokka.

"My name is Sokka Sanuik Portman!" He yelled, "I'm Kanna Sanuik's grandson! I won't hurt you!" 

He came across a cave and assumed that that was where they had gone into, maybe to hide out or something. 

He was about to step inside when someone grabbed his arm, "Sokka!" Katara screeched, "What are you doing?! What were you thinking running off like that?!" 

"I had to follow them!" Sokka yelled, slightly out of breath, "Those are Gran-Gran's friends, that's why she sent us here, to find them!"

Katara gave him a look, "Sokka..."

"They ran in there," he gestured to the cave, "Come on! We have to go talk to them!"

Sokka wrenched his arm free of Katara's grip and ran into the cave.

Sokka walked inside to the dark cave, "They have to be here," he was saying, "There's nowhere else to go!"

"Sokka," Katara said, following him, "You sound crazy." 

Sokka ignored her and looked around the dark cave. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight once again and pointed it around the cave. There was no one there. He frowned and walked around the small cave, Katara following him, as if expecting for the two girls to appear out of nowhere and yell, "Surprise!" but that didn't happen. It was almost like they vanished into thin air or maybe...maybe they were never here in the first place and Sokka's brain had conjured them up. Maybe Sokka's brain had conjured _everything_ up. The monster, the letter, the girls, even the pictures that Gran-Gran had shown them when they were younger. Maybe her stories had been about a group of normal orphan children who were refugees from World War II and Sokka had invented the whole special abilities thing after seeing Gran-Gran die as a way to cope with her death. Maybe he _had_ brought his family here on a wild goose chase. After all, everyone who lived in that house except for Gran-Gran had died in 1940. 

Sokka banged his head against the stone wall. How could he have been so stupid?

"Sokka," Katara began softly, "Sokka, it's alright."

"We should head back," Sokka grumbled, lifting his head up from the wall and walking away. He thought he heard Katara say okay, but he wasn't too sure, too busy being stuck in his own head.

He could already predict Dr. Zhao's explanation: _'That house is such an emotionally loaded place for you, just being inside was enough to trigger a stress reaction.'_  
Damn him. He might be a psychobabble-spewing prick, but that doesn't make him wrong.

Sokka and Katara walked out of the cave.

_Maybe it's time to let go._

The place that they walked out to, however, was very different from the place that they had left. 

The sky was blue, the clouds were the perfect shade of white and the right amount of fluffy, the sun was shining brightly at them--it wasn't raining anymore--the grass was as green as grass can be, and there was a lot more of it. The trees weren't dead anymore, the branches filled with green leaves and fruit, and the path was completely cleared of mud. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The 1940s clothes are based of actual vintage clothing that I've taken from pictures and 1940s magazines. 
> 
> Jet does not have a last name, Teo is the only one of the cast who is 90% British with some Asian background whereas everyone else either had one parent who was European and one who was Asian, or just immigrated from a country in East Asia to Wales. In Kanna's case, she is a Polish immigrant with Inuit descent, which is why she still has an Inuit name, both first and last, and why she still speaks Inuktitut.


	7. September 3, 1940

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka and Katara discover that Cairnholm is very different from what they remember it being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented and left a kudos in the previous chapters, it is very much appreciated.
> 
> I scoured through all of the internet trying to learn how to write a Welsh accent, and the only thing I learned was slang words that I did not feel comfortable writing with because I as afraid that I would make it so obvious that I am not from Wales if I used them. Anyways, Welsh people, I'm sorry I couldn't get your accent down, also, your flag is cool.
> 
> I did a lot of research for this chapter in general, which is why it took so long for me to write, despite it being short.
> 
> Also, writing this, I realized that Suki would've made a great Emma...oh well, it's too late now.

Sokka and Katara stumbled their way back into town, still reeling from the shock that Cairnholm suddenly had good weather and less bog and fog. 

"Sokka," Katara began, looking around her in amazement, confusion, and worry, "are you seeing what I'm seeing or am I crazy?"

"I think I'm seeing what you're seeing."

"Can the weather change that fast? Can the mud dry up that quickly? Can the trees just...undie?" 

"No, I don't think any of that is possible."

"Then where are we? Are we even in the same island?"

Sokka looked around at his surroundings, everything was different, but it was the same too. The path they were walking on was the same path they walked on earlier, just with less mud and more trees. The houses that were coming up ahead were the same, but cleaner and dull. And the closer they got the more obvious it became that everything was different but it was also the same. It was the same island, just less depressing and melancholic. 

The townspeople were different too, but Sokka wasn't sure if they had always been there and he just hadn't noticed, it wasn't as if he spent much time in the town anyways, and there were horse-drawn carriages too, and those were definitely new, Sokka was sure that he would have noticed horses walking around the island, and besides, where would they have even hidden them? The island wasn't that big and the only farm that Sokka had seen was a sheep farm. 

The towns people were looking at them too. It wasn't the average, _oh look, new people visiting our sad island, what a surprise,_ look that they had been given thus far, the looks they were receiving now were the epitome of confusion, some were even glaring at them.

"Sokka," Katara whispered, "people are staring at us."

"Just ignore them," he whispered back. 

He noticed that the people were more focused on the clothes they were wearing than anything else, and that was when he noticed the clothes _they_ were wearing. The people of Cairnholm were old-fashioned, sure, that much was obvious. From the old, rickety buildings to the fact that there was only one phone in the whole town, it was very clear that these people weren't up to date with the 21st century--Sokka even doubted that they had TVs and such. But they still dressed like the average person from 21st century would, with jeans, and jackets, and t-shirts, and sneakers (except for the people at the Singing Nomad, they dressed like they were straight out from the 70s) but these people dressed like they had never even heard of what denim was. Knee-length dresses, puffed shoulders, high-waisted pants, and blouses were what the women were wearing, and big tweed suits with the same two colors of blue and brown with padded shoulders were what some of the men had on, the other men had collared shirts on that were either two sizes too big or two sizes too small with the loose, high-waisted pants. 

Sokka wondered if the reason these people were looking at him and Katara like that was because they had never heard of normal clothing in their lives. 

They found their hotel, The Singing Nomad, rather quickly. It was notably very different, the place looked like it was just built, whereas before it looked like it was on the verge of falling apart. The sign out front was different too, the name was the same but it didn't say anything about a room, or a phone, or food. It just said its name, and the special of the day.

Sokka looked at Katara who just shrugged and walked inside, Sokka following her with worry, because there was obviously something wrong with all of this, and he couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking into something dangerous.

Katara just strode into the room, not bothering to look around and take in her surroundings, walked determinedly to other side of the bar where the stairs were with Sokka following her closely.

Before they could walk up to their room and be reunited with their parents they were stopped by a loud, booming, intimidating voice.

"And just where do the two of ya think yer going?" 

Sokka turned around to see a large man standing behind the bar glaring at them, with two other equally large patrons sitting at the bar, who were also glaring at him and Katara. The new bartender was so different from Chong, it wasn't even funny, it was kind of scary, actually. 

"We're just going to our room, sir," Katara said cooly.

The man's frown deepened, "That so? This look like a hotel to you, miss? Tell me what you really want up there before I do something to you that you might regret." 

_I'm having a psychotic episode_ , Sokka thought, _this is what a psychotic episode feels like._

"You here their accents?" Someone said, "They're American spies, yeah?"

"American my arse!" The other patron yelled "You think the Americans would send someone like _them_ to spy for 'em?" 

"Their accents sound rubbish to me," said an even larger ( _Just how big can these people be?_ ) man who just materialized, "I'll wager they're Jerry spies!"

"We're not spies," said Katara in a strong voice, "We're just lost."

Large Man #3 scoffed and said, "I reckon we get the truth out of 'em--the old-fashioned way."

Sokka did not want to stick around and find out what the old-fashioned way was. He turned to Katara and whispered, "Run."

Katara nodded and the two maneuvered themselves around the bar, dodging and ducking the four men who had nothing better to do than try to kidnap a pair of teenagers, kicking out barstools and such along the way to try and trip them. It would be really convenient right now for Katara to know how to control her water magic or for Sokka to have a best friend that could shoot fire out of their hands like Gran-Gran used to have.

Once they somehow managed to make it outside Sokka quickly turned to Katara and whispered some instructions to her, "Let's split up," he said quickly, "you go to the left and I go to the right, we'll meet up at the house, got it?"

Katara nodded and the two took off their separate directions. With the two of them split up it'll be easier to lose the guys, and if they get caught, they'll probably have less people to fight, hopefully.

Sokka took off running down the line of houses, weaving in and out of alleyways, ducking behind trash cans and clotheslines while hearing the distant sound of the bar patrons yelling and demanding to know where they'd gone.

Sokka continued running, trying to think of how to get from here to the house on the other side of the island. He was worried about Katara, but he knew that she could take care of herself, being an expert in self-defense and hide and seek, so really, he needed to worry about himself and what he was going to do if he got caught, not that he didn't know self-defense, he did, he just didn't think that he was that good at it, and he always lost at hide and seek. He really needed to get to that house.

Suddenly, Sokka's body came to a halt. Sokka didn't want to stop running, in fact, the last thing he wanted to do was to stop running and yet, he wasn't running anymore. Then, his body started to move again, but Sokka wasn't controlling it, he wasn't controlling his actions at all. It was like he was possesed or something, but that couldn't be it, because ghosts and demons aren't real, and besides, this would be a really weird moment for a ghost to posses him, if a ghost wanted to posses him, it would have done back at the creepy mansion.

Sokka's body walked itself to an alleyway and Sokka did not like where this was going and great, somebody was holding a knife to his throat now. Sokka was pushed against the wall and somebody held a knife against his neck to keep him there. When he looked up, he saw that his attacker was one of the girls that he had seen back at the house, Hama.

"Scream and I'll cut you," she said.

And Sokka's eyes widened slightly; it was just his luck that he'd be chased around town by a gang of men only to have his life threatened by a teenage girl who apparently had the power to posses people.

"What are you?" She demanded.

"Uh...I'm an American--I mean. I'm Sokka."

"What were you doing in that house and why were you chasing me? What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you! Don't kill me, please!" 

"Talk to me about what?" 

"About the house and--and about the people who lived there," the girl, Hama, was pressing onto that knife so tightly, Sokka was afraid to move for fear of getting cut--on accident or not.

"Who sent you here?" She demanded.

"My grandmother did! You knew her, her name was Kanna Sanuik!"

"That's a lie!" She roared, "You think I don't know who you are? Open your eyes--let me see your eyes!"

"I am!" Sokka yelled, confused, "They are!"

"No, your real eyes! Those fake eyes don't fool me anymore than your ridiculous lies about Kanna!" 

_Fake eyes?_

"I can prove it," he said, "I have letter!"

Sokka reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter Miss Ursa had sent, "My grandmother gave it to me, it's from the bird--Miss Ursa!"

"That doesn't prove anything! Anyone could have stolen a _letter_! I don't want to hear another word of your rubbish!"

In the distance a few voices ran out, "Through here! I saw the boy go this way!" 

Hama glared at the distanced before dragging Sokka away and down the alley, there was a door there at the end and the two entered through it.

"Wait," Sokka whispered, "My sister--she's out there, what if they find her?"

Hama just ignored him and dragged him inside. 

They were in the living room of a home ( _What kind of a home has a side door to the living room?_ ) there was an ornate mirror and a nice leather couch, and a red rug. On the other side of the room there was a window to the outside with the curtains drawn closed and next to the window there was a calendar. A calendar that said it was September 3, 1940.

September 3, 1940.

_September 3, 1940._

_**September 3, 1940!**_

And with that, Sokka passed out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a lot of time describing the fashion of what the people were wearing because fashion, makeup, and hair are very important in helping determine what year, decade, or century something or someone is from. And in the 40s, fashion differed greatly from before the war and after the war, so it was important to me that it is made clear what everyone is wearing in the 40s as another way to differentiate from the modern world, and also fashion and fashion styles are very cool and interesting. If you're not interested in fashion, feel free to skip this author's note.
> 
> So, Cairnholm is a small island on the coast of Wales during WWII, so I'm assuming that most of the people there don't have much money, and therefore, can't afford to buy a lot of clothes, so either their clothes would be hand-me-downs that you're going to have to grow into, hence two sizes too big, or their clothes would be clothes that you've been wearing since the age of 15 because you don't have any other, hence two sizes too small. The men in suits have money, because in order to afford a suit with color and shoulder paddings, which takes a lot of material to make, you would need to have money, but still, this is a small island on the coast of Wales during WWII, so even the people with money don't have much money so they would need to wear the same suit everyday and the colors won't be too diverse, so just blue and brown, although in the 40s, the popular colors for suits were dark brown, tan, navy, grey, black and medium blue. The women's clothes has more diversity, because historically, women's fashion trends have been more diverse (and creative) but nobody on this island has much money, so they still wear the same dresses and skirts and pants everyday, and they would all colored brown and white, with the occasional navy blue. They are not wearing stockings, because they don't have the money to afford stockings or to afford the material to make stockings, which is why their legs are shaved. They're wearing flats, they live on an island, most of the work there is manual labor, therefore there is no room for heels. Most of the clothes that these people are wearing have been hand-made by the women of the house, because, again, not much money.


	8. The 1940s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka and Katara get an unconventional introduction to 40s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the last chapter of Act 1! 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented and left a kudos in the previous chapters, I appreciated it very much. It surprises me just how well this story is doing, I didn't expect much from it, just a little fun thing to do on the side, but it makes me happy to see that people are reading it and (hopefully) enjoying it! 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter and see you tomorrow for the next update.

Sokka slowly began to come to. He had hoped that all of this had just been a strange dream, because what else could it be? People don't just randomly end up in the 1940s where they get kidnapped by incredibly (unnecessarily) aggressive teenage girls. 

He distantly heard hushed voices talking to each other, it sounded like three girls having a rather intense argument about something or other.

"--Well I think the two of you are overreacting right now," said the first voice.

"If by overreacting you mean being extremely cautious so that the Jet Incident doesn't happen again, then sure," said the second voice.

"This is completely different from what happened to Jet and you know it! You should stop bringing him up every time you want to an excuse for your misguided actions, by the way," replied the first voice.

"Azula's right," a third voice interjected, "We're just being cautious, we can't afford to lower our guard around strangers, not anymore. What if these people turned out to be Wights? I would never forgive myself if they killed us all and took Miss Ursa just because I had a fault in my judgement." 

"But they're _not_ wights!" The first voice yelled, sounding mildly annoyed and frustrated, "They are so _clearly_ Kanna's grandchildren!"

"So you believe their rubbish about being Kanna's grandchildren, then?" The third voice asked in an accusatory tone.

"Rubbish? Hama, they look _just_ like her! Do you think that there's a pair of wights walking around who so happen to look exactly like Kanna did when she was younger?"

"Could be," the third voice insisted petulantly.

"Now, Yue _does_ have a point," the second voice said, "It would be a very big coincidence for something like that to just happen, so they have to be Kanna's grandchildren. But I still don't trust them, you don't know who they're in cahoots with. Just because they're related to Kanna does not mean that they're good people--or even that they're with us. After all, can you imagine a relative of Kanna's being _this_ incompetent and clueless?" 

"Hey!" A fourth voice yelled, and Sokka knew for a fact that this fourth voice belonged to his sister, "Who are you calling incompetent and clueless?!"

"You and your brother," the second voice responded impassively, "Who else?"

Sokka heard something that sounded like a growl coming from his sister.

"Yeah, well, can you imagine wights being this incompetent and clueless?"

" _Hey_!"

"They didn't even know they were in a loop," the first voice continued, "Hama, you said that the boy passed out the moment he realized what date it was, and you still think he's a threat?"

"The boy might not be a threat," said the third voice, "but the girl surely is."

"The _boy_ is named Sokka, and _my_ name is Katara!"

"Yes, well, we don't care," said the second voice, "We're trying to have a private conversation right now, do you mind?"

"If you wanted to have a private conversation, then maybe don't have it in front of your hostages!"

"You guys are not hostages," the first voice said.

"Yue, please, don't give them false ideas," said the second voice.

Sokka slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

He took in the room, it was the same room he had passed out in earlier, the same living room with the leather couch and the red rug, and the stupid calendar that cause him to pass out. He looked to the side, to the right of him, and saw Katara sitting against the wall with her hands tied. She was glaring rather fiercely at something up ahead. This glare was different from Katara's usual glare.

Katara had three stages of glares, the first stage was the Family glare. The Family glare was usually directed at Sokka and it was done when Katara was feeling annoyed. The second glare was the You're A Bigoted Asshole glare, that glare was a lot more serious than the Family glare and it was usually directed at people like Hahn who were sexist and homophobic and whatever else you could be. That glare was usually done when Katara wanted to make sure the person it was directed at knew how much hot water they were in and how much she couldn't stand them. The third and final stage of glaring was the I'm Going To Kill You glare, and that one was reserved only for people that Katara wanted to kill (or seriously maim) someone from how much they've wronged her.

Right now, she was at stage three of glaring.

Sokka was also propped up against the wall and his hands were also tied together.

He followed Katara's line of sight to see two teenage girls standing by the window that had the curtains drawn shut. They were the same girls he had seen back at the house.

They were both standing with a defensive posture and they both had their arms crossed. They looked like they were posing for a poster of a horrible action movie, and it would've been funny if these girls hadn't taken him and his sister down and then proceeded to tie them up.

There was also the issue of Sokka having heard three voices talking to each other and he only saw two girls in the room (not counting Katara) and he was pretty sure that the third girl couldn't have left the room that quickly, not without Sokka seeing or at least hearing her.

Hama seemed to notice that Sokka was no longer knocked out and turned to him with a glare that could rival Katara's worst. 

"Well, well, well," she said, "Look who finally decided to wake up. You sure took your time there, didn't you?"

"Be nice, Hama," the first voice said again, startling Sokka who looked around the room wildly, searching for the source, "He just passed out, he's obviously going through something."

"Um..." Sokka began nervously, "Who's that? How is she doing that, I mean?"

From next to him, he saw Katara roll her eyes, "She's invisible," Katara said, "That's how she's doing it."

Sokka looked around, "You're invisible?" He asked.

"Sure am," the voice responded from somewhere to the left of him, "Nice to meet you, Sokka, I'm Yue. And those two over there are Hama and Azula, respectively. They're a bit paranoid, though I'm sure you've already figured that out."

Yue. Sokka remembered that name.

Yue was the girl who could turn invisible. Gran-Gran had shown Sokka many pictures of her--of her clothes, rather--but Sokka wasn't actually expecting to meet her. He wasn't actually expecting to meet any of them, just Miss Ursa. And yet, he already met three of them. Because they had kidnapped him and his sister.

Honestly, Sokka wasn't too thrilled right now. In Gran-Gran's stories these people sounded _nice_ and _fun_ , not like kidnapping psychopaths.

"Sokka," Katara grumbled, glaring at him the first stage glare, "this is all your fault."

" _Excuse me_?!"

"You heard me. Your fault. You just _had_ to chase them, _didn't you_? And now we're here, tied up and stuck in the 1940s!"

"Stuck in the 40s," Sokka scoffed, "We aren't stuck in the 40s, that's not possible."

Sokka was met with blank stares, he could even feel Yue judging him.

"What?" He asked.

"Seriously?" Katara asked.

Azula scoffed, "My, he really _is_ clueless."

"What? It's just not possible!"

"Sokka, you _just_ talked to someone who's _invisible_ and you're trying to tell me that it just isn't possible that we're in the 40s? After everything being so different? After seeing that calendar? Really?"

"Time travel just can't exist," Sokka said, "Remember that story I told you? The one where I hypothetically go back and time and--"

"Kill grandpa, yeah, yeah. But that doesn't apply here. Besides, invisible people can't exist, and neither can people who can manipulate water, and yet here we are!"

"You have a peculiarity?" Hama whispered, she sounded horrified. 

"I don't know what that is," said Katara.

"She's asking you whether or not you have an ability," said Azula, "You mentioned something about people who can manipulate water, but you haven't met anyone of the sort yet, so the only logical conclusion to draw from that is that you are either referring to yourself, your brother, or someone else you've met that _used_ to have an ability like that."

"Azula, please, they are _not_ in cahoots with the wights!"

"You don't know that," Azula hissed, glaring at the empty space where Yue was presumably standing.

"I was referring to myself," Katara interjected, "and for the last time, I have no idea what a wight is!"

Hama exchanged a look with Azula before glaring at the curtained window.

"I think we made a mistake," Hama whispered reluctantly, "We should probably untie them."

Suddenly, Sokka's bindings started to get undone and he assumed that it was Yue who was helping him. 

Azula turned to glare at Hama, " _What_? Just like that? Just because the girl said that she had an ability without showing us any evidence?" 

"Azula please," Hama whispered, "We were wrong and Yue was right, just give it a rest."

Azula glared at her a bit more before rolling her eyes and schooling her features so that she had a poker face on. Azula turned and pulled the curtains open and looked out the window while Hama leaned against the wall, looking miserable. As soon as Sokka's hands were free, he jumped up and rushed to his sister, helping her with her bindings.

"We're going to have to take you talk to Miss Ursa," Hama said, "She wanted to see, so we can't let you go just yet, but then you're free to go. I'll even show you how to leave the loop, I'm sure you want to go back home to your _family_."

Hama spit out the word family as if it were something rotten that she had eaten on accident. 

"Well, looks like they're going to get to meet Miss Ursa soon," said Azula, "because we can't stay in here much longer, they're searching the houses. Those two got into a bar fight, remember?"

Hama scoffed and rolled her eyes, "How I hate the people at The Singing Nomad."

"We all do, Hama," said Azula, "You aren't special for that." 

"Yeah, well, we can't just go out there," Hama continued, ignoring Azula's gibe, "It'll be like handing ourselves over for the slaughter."

"Except that we _can_ just walk out there," Yue said, "In a minute or so."

"Are you mad?" Azula asked in a judgmental tone, "We'll have every one of those barbarians on us. Not all of us are invisble, you know."

"Not if we're less interesting than what's about to happen," said Yue.

Katara looked at Sokka in confusion and Sokka just shrugged at her. 

Azula looked like there was a catty remark on the tip of her tongue but before she could say anything, she was cut off by a loud noise. Her hazel eyes widened in the fraction of a second before she schooled her features once more. She turned to Yue, "Yue, that was actually brilliant," she said, " _Don't_ let it get to your head."

The loud noises continued and Hama turned to the siblings, "Follow us," she said, "and don't fall behind."

"Because if you _do_ fall behind," Azula said, "We won't come back for you."

"Don't listen to Azula, we will, but we're kind of a time limit right now so we need to move as quickly and efficiently as possible," said Yue before throwing the door open.

The five of them quickly rushed out of there and Sokka couldn't stop himself from doing what he does best. Ask questions.

"What's happening out there," he asked, getting pushed slightly by Azula for being too slow.

All the girls ignored him, which was doing quite a few things to his self-esteem, and they all just kept walking down the street quickly, and yet, at the same time in an orderly fashion. 

Sokka looked around and saw all of the townspeople quickly rushing into their homes and whatever other buildings were near. Glancing up at the sky Sokka saw Nazi fighter planes flying over the island. He felt his eyes widen at that and looking back down, he noticed that with the commotion of everyone panicking and rushing home, their group of four (excluding Yue, of course) blended seamlessly with the crowd.

This felt like a dream--all of this. Getting stuck in the 40s, getting chased by a gang of drunkards, violent girls, invisible girls, Nazi fighter planes. Any minute now, Sokka would wake up and find out that he had just passed out down in that creepy basement or something, but he was not waking up. And what's more, his sister was here too, and although she was doing a good job of hiding it, Sokka could tell that she was just as scared and confused as he was.

They continued walking until they left the town and were now making their way through the less muddy woods. Nobody talked.

Sokka looked around the woods. They looked much nicer and were a lot more easier to travel through now that the trees weren't dead, and there wasn't a fog blocking his eye sight, and there wasn't mud everywhere or random tree stumps or tree trunks lying on the ground--it was much nicer to look at too, peaceful even. Well, it _would_ have been peaceful in any other context than the situation he was in right now.

Eventually, they made into the clearing and Sokka was astonished to see that the old run-down, decrepit house that was referred to as _The Haunted Mansion_ was suddenly a beautiful and elegant mansion filled with joy and life. 

There were children and teenagers alike running around and playing in the green grass underneath the bright sun. There were bright flowers and other bushes and plants adorning the outside. Stone statues of random things such as a couple dancing or a of a small faceless girl posed like a wrestler winner, with both her fists raised up in the air. There were two small girls, both with black hair, but one looked slightly older than the other, playing football (the normal kind, not the American kind) with a tall boy, who had black hair and a painful looking scar covering part of his face. There was a giant elegant tree, and there was a pale girl with long black hair ( _wow, a lot of these guys have black hair, huh?_ ) sitting underneath playing with what looked to be a doll. There was another girl with brown hair in front of her doing a handstand and other acrobatic type tricks. Sitting on the steps of the house was a boy with, surprise, surprise, black hair. He had goggles buried in his hair and he seemed to be reading a book. Next to him, there was a cane lying down on the steps and in front of the doors there was a bald boy running around to the best of his ability while wearing shoes that seemed to be really heavy, and he was talking a mile a minute.

Hama and Azula didn't waste any time with pleasantries, just walking up the steps determinedly, ignoring the boy occupying part of it. The boy in turn only waved slightly as a greeting. The other boy, however, did notice them and immediately bombarded them with greetings.

"Hama, Azula, Yue! You're back," he yelled excitedly, trying to jump up and down but failing to do so, "How was the mission guys! I see you've brought new people, hi new people, I'm Aang, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Sokka waved awkwardly at Aang, not knowing how to respond to his excitement. Katara on the other hand, smiled birghtly at him, "Hi Aang, I'm Katara and this is my brother, Sokka. It's nice to meet you too."

Aang blushed and opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Azula who groaned in annoyance, "We don't have the time for this," she said, "We have to take them to talk to Ursa, you can bother them later, Aang."

Aang pouted slightly before shrugging good-naturedly and turning back to the other boy, "So, Teo, as I was saying..."

Sokka didn't hear the rest of that conversation because he was immediately dragged away by Azula. 

"I can walk for myself, you know," he told her but she just ignored him. 

As they entered the house, Sokka noted that the inside had transformed drastically as well. No longer dirty and dusty, the living room was now an impressive and elegent room with portraits and pictures decorating it. It had that managed to obtain that cozy, homey feel of it, but it also managed to keep that elegance feel that you would get from a mansion. Sokka didn't get much time to admire it, though they immediately moved up the grand stairs, that no longer sounded like they were on the verge of collapsing with every step. 

Instead of walking down the hall that Sokka and Katara had walked down back in the ruined version of the house, they turned to the left and continued walking there, because apparently, there was a lot more to the second floor that Sokka hadn't noticed, probably because it was pitch black and a phone flashlight could only do so much.

So, they walked down the second hallway and passed many new doors, doors to a bathroom and a library and a storage closet, and eventually, they stopped in front of a closed door that Azula knocked on, rather aggressively, Sokka might add. A minute or so later, the door swung open to reveal a tall woman on the other side. She had bird-like brown eyes, and black hair that had been pulled back into a tight bun. She was wearing a long black dress with long, puffed sleeves; the dress covered pretty much everything about her, from her arms to her legs to her neck. There was a golden pocket watch dangling from her neck and she had a kind smile on her face. 

She smiled brightly at Sokka and Katara and said, "Good afternoon. The two of you must be Sokka and Katara, right? Please, come in, I've been expecting you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deciding who would be the there to find (kidnap) Sokka and Katara in this version was a bit of fun. At first I was thinking of doing Aang, Azula, and Zuko, but the invisible person is kind of convenient when trying to sneak around, so I added Yue, but then I thought that was too many people, they are trying to be inconspicuous. So I was going to have it be Zuko, Azula, and Yue, but then I decided to remove Zuko from the equation so that it would just be Azula and Yue, but there needs to be the drama of "Oh no, my lover has married and had children and gran-children without telling me!" so I added Hama.
> 
> I should probably also mention that in this universe Ursa isn't Zuko and Azula's mom.


	9. The Bird

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka and Katara finally get to meet the ever curious Miss Ursa Peregrine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First Chapter of Act 2 and Miss Ursa finally gets introduced.
> 
> This chapter came a bit later than I wanted to because I didn't have any internet in my house for the first two hours and then I just didn't feel like writing just yet, but it is finally published here, on the 30th just like I promised myself. Anyways, there are only five more days of break for me before I have to focus on my studies and what not, so by next Monday, chapter updates won't be daily anymore and I'm not sure if there's going to be an update on Friday. I'll try to update once a week, but school can get tiring and tedious, so we'll see how it goes. Regardless, I'm expecting to see this story to the very end and I'm excited to continue it into the other installments (I plan on going all the way to book 4, A Map of Days, because that is my second favorite book in the series, but I'm not sure if I'll do the fifth book, I'll have to read it and see how much I like it) so I will not be abandoning this story, just updates will become less frequent, that's all. Anyways, thanks for the kudos and the comments, you guys have no idea how happy it makes me to check how this story is doing and seeing that someone left a comment or a kudos, so thank you very much for that. Enjoy the chapter :)

Katara didn't waste any seconds and just marched into the room, her head held high with confidence before taking a seat at one of the comfy looking arm chairs situated around a fancy looking wooden table.

Sokka hesitated slightly, looking at Hama and Azula, before steeling his nerves and walking in, after all, this was the woman that Sokka had been looking for. This was the woman that Gran-Gran had wanted Sokka to find. This woman was the whole reason that Sokka had come to this weird island in the first place, so he wanted to talk to her just as much as she wanted to talk to him, and he was not leaving until he got his questions answered.

_My questions, dammit I forgot them all. Stupid stage fright, I should have written them down!_

Following his sister's example, Sokka sat down in the arm chair adjacent to hers and tried his best not to fidget in the way that he usually did when he was nervous or excited about something, or in cases like this, both.

The woman, who Sokka was assuming was Miss Ursa, because who else would she be, turned to the girls still standing at the door, "Hama, Azula, Yue, you three are excused, Mr. and Miss Sanuik and I have some private matters that we need to discuss," Miss Ursa paused for a minute and her eyes roamed at the two visible girls, flickering between an empty spot to the right and an empty spot to the left, probably looking for Yue but not knowing where she was exactly, "And, Yue, when I say private, I mean private. In fact, please leave the room right now, I need to make sure that you've left."

Sokka heard a sigh coming from somewhere, probably to the left, next to where Hama was standing, but he couldn't be sure. 

"I'm going, see?" Yue said.

Sokka heard loud footsteps moving away from them, as if Yue was purposefully stomping her feet so that every one could hear her leaving. Eventually, Sokka heard the footsteps exiting the room and then the door slammed shut.

Miss Ursa smiled before turning to the two girls, "The two of you are excused as well."

Azula's eyes narrowed slightly, but she just huffed and turned away, calmly opening the door and walking out. She left the door ajar, probably for Hama to walk through herself.

Hama did not walk out the door, she instead turned to Miss Ursa with a nervous expression on her face, "Actually, Miss, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Miss Ursa's eyes softened and she sighed slightly, "Hama, whatever it is, we can talk about it later, okay? Right now, I've got guests to greet."

Hama frowned but nodded nonetheless before walking out. 

Miss Ursa schooled her features before turning to Sokka and Katara with a small smile on her face, "My name is Miss Ursa Peregrine," she said, "I am pleased to finally meet you."

She turned and walked to one of the remaining seats in the room. Miss Ursa walked in long strides and sat delicately on the seat, all poised and proper like someone from the forties would sit. She smiled at them again, before her features took on a more grave appearance, "Now," she began conversationally, "the two of you have been on this island for several days now, how come you're only just getting around to visiting us?"

Katara frowned at her, "How do you know how long we've been here?" She demanded, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Why, I saw the two of you at the island," Miss Ursa explained, "I've been watching the two of you--in order to make sure that you were safe and that you were going in the right direction."

Sokka frowned at that for multiple reasons. The main one being that he just didn't like the idea of being under constant surveillance by someone he had never met, it being a huge breach of privacy and all, especially when the watching was done when he didn't even know who she was. The second reason this bothered him so much was that Cairnholm was clearly a small island, and Sokka was sure that he had already met and seen most of the locals in the first day alone, so if Miss Ursa had been watching them as much as she said she did, then Sokka would have seen her at some point; she had quite the memorable face, not to mention the fact that Gran-Gran had shown Sokka many pictures of her when he was younger, so he surely would have noticed the same woman he had seen many times in his childhood looking so young still.

"What do you mean _watching us_?" Katara asked, her eyes narrowing.

"How come we never noticed you?" Sokka asked instead, more hung up on that than on anything else.

"You never noticed me because I was in my other form," Miss Ursa explained.

Sokka blinked.

_Other form?_

He looked at Katara, who seemed as confused as he did before a look of understanding swept her face. It was at that moment that Sokka remembered his Gran-Gran's last words, Miss Ursa's nickname, and most importantly, the situation he was in right now.

_Gran-Gran said to find the bird, Miss Ursa is constantly referred to as the bird, her last name is that of a bird's and she has another form. Miss Ursa can...turn into a bird? That's it, isn't? That's what makes her so special, she can turn into a bird._

"You were the peregrine falcon outside of Professor Zei's house?" Sokka asked, "The one that guided me back to the house?"

Miss Ursa smiled and nodded, "Indeed I was," she said.

Katara's eyes widened and she inclined her body forwards, " _You_ were the peregrine falcon that flew over our boat when we first got to the island!" She exclaimed.

"Yes," Miss Ursa confirmed, "I was that bird. For the past few days, I've been flying all over the island, following the pair of you, trying to keep you safe and make sure you didn't get into any trouble. I didn't want to interfere too much with your adventures, however, and I must admit, I expected the two of you to immediately go to the loop, which is why it baffled me when the two of you spent so much time at the broken down version of the house."

"Well, you see," Sokka began, "Nobody told us that in order to talk to you we had to travel back in time, so we did what any normal person would do, and explored the ruins of the house instead."

Katara scoffed, "Yeah, 'cause _that's_ what normal people do in this situation."

Miss Ursa frowned again, "You didn't know about the time loop?" She asked and Katara and Sokka just shook their heads, causing Miss Ursa's frown to deepen, "My goodness," she exclaimed, "Did your grandmother not tell you anything about her old friends or about her old life?"

"Some things," Katara responded, "She told us about her friends--your wards, I guess. And she told us about the house and that you guys lived on this island and that you had special abilities, but she never told us what _you_ were capable of, or that time travel was even possible. Essentially, she just told us the most basic of details."

Miss Ursa hummed and reached for a cup of tea at the table that Sokka had only just noticed. There were three tea cups and one tea pot, all colored white and gold with fresh, steaming tea having already been poured in each cup. Miss Ursa picked up the tea cup closest to her and took a small sip before placing it down gently on the table. She looked off into the distance for only a moment before she began speaking again, "Do you have any idea why your grandmother did not share with you the whole truth of her life?"

Katara shrugged, "I don't know," she sighed, "She didn't even let us come to this island until just now, said it was too dangerous--maybe that's why."

"I think she wanted to tell us everything eventually," Sokka said, "but she waited too long, and now it's too late. That's she sent us here--Katara and I--to find you. So, that you could tell us everything she was unable to."

Miss Ursa looked at the two of them with a blank stare, her hands shaking slightly. She looked as if she was just realizing something--something awful.

"Excuse me," she said, her voice weak and distant, "Too late? Too long? Unable to? Is..." she trailed off and looked away again. She buried her face in the palm of her hand and shook her head slightly, she seemed to be trying to compose herself.

Miss Ursa cleared her throat and turned to face the siblings again, her face paler than it had been, "Is she..." she trailed off again and cleared her throat once more, "Has Kanna...has Kanna passed?"

Sokka nodded and Miss Ursa buried her face in her hands again, and Sokka thought that he heard small, pitiful sobs coming from her, but they were had been muffled by her hands, so he couldn't be sure.

"She's gone," she whispered, "She's let herself grow old. Oh, the children will be so devastated--they were all very close to her."

Sokka looked at Katara in desperation. Sokka wasn't good with this--with the whole talking about _feelings_ , but Katara was. So, Sokka had hoped that Katara would know what to do write now, but she looked just as lost as he did. 

Katara looked like she was going to get up and comfort Miss Ursa, but that was the same moment that Miss Ursa had managed to compose herself. She stood up from her chair and began pacing around the room.

"I was afraid of this," she said, "I warned her not to leave--to not live out in the open like that but..."

Sokka briefly wondered if he should tell her that Gran-Gran hadn't passed because she grew old, but that Gran-Gran had passed because something attacked her, something terrible and monstrous, but Sokka had a feeling that Miss Ursa was already well aware of that. 

"The children musn't hear of this," she said suddenly, turning to look at Sokka and Katara who just stared at her with a mixture of confusion and worriment, "Not yet, at least."

"Okay," Sokka agreed, "Whatever you think, you know best after all--" there was a loud thumping noise that came from out in the hallway "--but I do have a few questions that I would like answered."

" _Sokka!_ " Katara hissed.

"What?" Sokka asked, turning to her.

Miss Ursa ignored them both and walked determinedly to the door in six long strides.

"I _cannot_ believe you!" Katara was saying.

Miss Ursa turned the door knob.

"Can't you see she's hurting?! Clearly, she cared about Gran-Gran very much, give her a minute before you bombard her with questions!"

Miss Ursa opened the door and looked out into the hallway.

"Well, Gran-Gran sent us here to look for answers, and in order to look for answers, you've got to ask questions!"

"Yeah, well--"

" _Hama!_ " Miss Ursa yelled, cutting off whatever Katara had been about to say.

Sokka looked at the door to see the crumpled figure of Hama in the hallway. She had her head buried in her arms and Sokka could see that she was shaking. It was quite jarring to see the girl who had been so intimidating and imposing just moments ago look so broken and defeated while collapsed on the floor.

"Miss Etok," Miss Ursa said, "What have I told you about eavesdropping?"

Hama never answered her and Miss Ursa never got to scold her thoroughly for eavesdropping on a private conversation, because Hama stood up quickly and took off running down the hall and Sokka could her sobbing and crying as she did.

Miss Ursa sighed deeply before closing the door and turning back to her two guests, staring at the door in slight shock after what they just witnessed.

"It is rather unfortunate that you had to see that," she said, walking back to her chair, "I'm afraid that she's quite sensitive when it comes to your grandmother."

"Yeah," Katara said, "We've noticed."

Sokka thought back to Hama's insistent denial at the fact that he and Katara were Gran-Gran's grandchildren.

"Were they..." Sokka began, but then trailed off, not knowing how to end that sentence.

Miss Ursa seemed to understand what he had been trying to say and nodded, "When Kanna left to fight in the war, she took all our hearts with her; Hama's especially. Hama was quite devastated when Kanna left, and I'm sure that she's quite devastated after overhearing about her fate, all we can do for no is let her grieve."

Katara nodded in understanding while Sokka's brain ran through loops and jumped hurdles, making connections to what he knows now and what he didn't know before.

"Hama was the other man," Sokka whispered, his eyes widening as he remembered what his father had said that night at the bar. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katara shoot him a confused look. He turned to her and mouthed, _later_.

Miss Ursa trailed off into silence and let the guests take in what she said before mustering up another smile. 

"Since the two of you are in the dark, it seems that I'll have to give you a brief primer. I think you'll find most of the answers you were looking for herein, Sokka," she said.

Sokka just shrugged, "Okay," he said.

"The composition of the human species is infinitely more diverse than most humans suspect. The real taxonomy of homo sapiens is a secret known to only a few, of whom the two of you will now be a part of. At base, it is a simple dichotomy: There are the coerlfolc, the teeming mass of common people who make up humanity's great bulk, and there is the hidden branch--the crypto-sapiens, if you will--who are called syndrigast, or "Peculiar Spirit. As you have no doubt surmised, we here are of the latter type. There are peculiars all over the world, though our numbers are much diminished from what they once were. Those who remain live in hiding, as we do."

"Why can't you guys," Sokka shrugged, "I don't know, go live in your own country somewhere or something? Just live by yourselves?"

Miss Ursa chuckled slightly, "If only it were that simple," she said, "Peculiar traits often skip a generation, or ten. Peculiar children are not always born to peculiar parents. Can you imagine, in a world so afraid of differences and things they can't understand, why this would be a danger to our kind?"

Sokka paused and frowned slightly, deep in thought. Peculiar traits often skip a many generations, so would it be logical to say that it isn't common for siblings to all have peculiarities, or is it only referring to the parents? Is this why Katara was special... _peculiar_ , and he wasn't? Was Gran-Gran like Katara or was she like Sokka? She got to live here, so Sokka supposed she was like Katara, although, Gran-Gran had never shown him or Katara what her special ability was.

"Miss Ursa," Sokka began, "Is it common for a peculiar persons to have a sibling who is also peculiar?"

"It is not unheard of," said Miss Ursa, "and it happens far more often than a peculiar child having a peculiar parent happens, but it isn't very common. Here, I actually do have a pair of siblings who are both peculiar, Zuko and Azula, and there are other peculiars I've met who've had a sibling that is also peculiar, but the numbers aren't very high, and statistically, I know of more peculiars who've had to, rather sadly, abandon their siblings simply because _they_ were peculiar and their siblings weren't. In this case that was something another pair of my wards, Mai and Ty Lee, had to do."

Those words awakened a fear Sokka hadn't felt in years, and out of the corner of his eye, he could feel Katara watching him. Suddenely, there was the very real possibility that by the end of this trip, Katara will have left Sokka behind to live in this house like she always wanted to, simply because _she_ was peculiar and _he_ wasn't.

Sokka cleared his throat awkwardly, "That's--that's great. Very interesting, very fascinating um...go on, please."

"Well," Miss Ursa continued, "In a world where otherness is feared and misunderstood, it would be quite dangerous for peculiar people to walk amongst the common folk who would never understand them the way we understand each other, so something had to be done. So people like myself created places where young peculiars could live apart from common folk--physically and temporally isolated enclaves like this one, of which I am enormously proud."

"People like yourself?" Katara asked.

"We peculiars are blessed with skills that common people lack, as infinite in combination and variety as others are in the pigmentation of their skin or the appearance of their facial features. That said, some skills are common, like reading thoughts, and others are rare, such as the way I can manipulate time."

"Manipulate time?" Katara asked, "I thought that you could turn into a bird." 

"Yes, I can do both. Only birds can manipulate time, therefore, all time manipulators must be able to take the form of a bird. We who can manipulate time fields consciously--and not only for ourselves, but for others--are known are ymbrynes. We create temporal loops in which peculiar fold can live indefinitely." 

And it must have been the fourth or fifth time that someone had mentioned the word loop today, but suddenly, Gran-Gran's last words started to click like puzzle pieces. 

Find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave.

Gran-Gran was a very direct, no nonsense woman. If she wanted to tell you something, she would tell it to you directly, not bothering or wasting time with long-winded metaphors or proverbs. She even had a saying that she had repeated so many times throughout her life, Sokka could repeat the words in his head from memory and when he did he could hear her voice clear as day, _"Why waste time spitting gobbledygook when I could be telling you what I'm thinking in my head? Metaphors just make things more complicated for everyone. The person saying it needs to come up with a damn good metaphor and the person listening to the metaphor has to decipher what the hell the other person was trying to say, and I'm not gonna live long enough to do either!"_ she would always say to him. So, for her final words to be a metaphor of some kind would be very unlikely of her. 

No, Gran-Gran's final words hadn't been a complicated puzzle, they had been direct directions--directions that she didn't get the chance to explain, but direct directions nonetheless. Find the bird in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave. Find Miss Ursa in the loop on the other side of the old man's grave. The old man was a really old corpse that was found in the bog, so the bog would be its grave, and on the other side of the bog there was a cave and if you went inside the cave, you would come out to the world of the 1940s, a temporal loop, and in that world is where Miss Ursa lives.

"This is a loop, right?" Sokka asked. 

Miss Ursa nodded in the affirmative and said, "Yes, though you may better know it as the third of September, 1940."

"It's only the one day?" Katara asked, confused, "It repeats?"

"Over and over," Miss Ursa confirmed, "Though our experience of it is continuous. Of course, we were here on Cairnholm a decade or more before the third of September, 1940, but it wasn't until that date that we also needed temporal isolation."

_Repeating the same day over and over and over again without stop? That sounded absolutely miserable. I wonder what it's like never getting to age or grow up. Some of the kids here look as young as seven-years-old. Is that a good thing? Being that young and never getting to grow up or mature? Do they ever get tired of it?_

Sokka was so deep in thought that he almost missed Katara's question. 

"Why's that?" She had asked.

"Because otherwise we would've all been killed," said Miss Ursa, so straight forward, it was almost startling.

"By the bomb," Katara said in understanding, "and since you're all living in a time loop, the rest of the town would have assumed that you died, since you never resurfaced again--except for Gran-Gran."

Miss Ursa nodded at Katara, "Yes, that is exactly correct."

"Are there any other loops beside this one?" Katara asked.

"Many," confirmed Miss Ursa, "But I'm afraid that's all the time I have for the moment, I do hope the two of you will stay for supper."

"Wait," Sokka said suddenly, "Was she--Gran-Gran...was she like..." Katara's name was on the tip of his tongue, but he was never able to say it. He wondered if it was because, deep down, he was afraid of what the answer would be. That Gran-Gran was like Katara, and Sokka was like his parents--boring and normal, not as special as the rest of the family.

"Like us?" Miss Ursa asked, and Sokka nodded, _close enough_.

Miss Ursa smiled at him and made direct eye contact, "She was like you, Sokka."

And that gave Sokka a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was researching slang from the 40s, and I came across the word "gobbledygook" and I think that's my new favorite word ever. Gobbledygook means nonesene, btw.
> 
> Anyways, for this chapter I had to read and write the word "peculiar" so many times, it doesn't feel like a real word anymore, so that's fun. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the ninth installment, I think, and see you in the next part, where we finally get to meet the rest of the children.


	10. Dinner ft. Bombs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eating supper + weird kids + bombs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, here's the tenth chapter. It's a bit later than I intended, but I was really busy today.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented and left a kudos, I appreciate it very much. Enjoy the chapter, and Happy New Year's Eve!

"I think it would be best if the two of you were wear clothes from our time," Miss Ursa was saying, leading Katara and Sokka down the hall, "to help you fit in. Now, I have to prepare supper, but Suki here will be able to help you to find your clothes, and to introduce you to everyone. Boy knows you'll need the help, we are quite a colorful group of people!" She said and with that, she laughed as if she had just told the world's most hilarious joke.

Miss Ursa stopped in front of two double doors, one of which had been left open, and looking inside, Sokka could see that this room was meant to be the library--not the that he was paying much attention, too busy trying to decipher Miss Ursa's words.

_She was like you, Sokka_. 

Now, what the hell did that mean?

Did Miss Ursa mean to say that Gran-Gran wasn't peculiar, just like Sokka wasn't peculiar? Is that why Gran-Gran couldn't stay, because she wasn't peculiar? Or did she mean that Sokka _was_ peculiar, and he just didn't realize it? But if Sokka _was_ peculiar, why did she single him out? Why say that Gran-Gran was like Sokka specifically and not that Gran-Gran was like them all? God, why did that woman have to be so cryptic?

"Suki," Miss Ursa was saying and it was just then that Sokka realized that sometime during his thinking he had entered the library and was face to face with a tall girl with brown hair and violet eyes. The girl had her arms crossed, and she was frowning slightly, her lips formed into a sort of pout. Her dark brown hair had been cut into a bob with curls styled into it, and she was wearing a pair of high-waisted brown pants paired with a white, collared blouse and a pair of flats. 

"These are Sokka and Katara," Miss Ursa continued, gesturing at the two of them, "I'm sure Yue already told you, but these are Kanna's grandchildren. I would like you to help them adjust to our way of living and to introduce them to everyone."

The girls'--Suki--frown melted off her face and gave way for a small smile. She turned to Sokka and Katara and waved at them, "Nice to meet you," she said in a collected voice. She didn't soun angry or annoyed, but she didn't sound thrilled either.

Miss Ursa smiled at her continued talking, "I would like you to help them change into new clothing too. Katara can wear some of Kanna's old clothes--the one's that she left here--and Sokka can wear some of Jet's old clothes."

Suki stopped smiling immediately, and she looked sort of worried, "Miss, is it a good idea to let someone else wear Jet's clothes?" She asked, turning back to Miss Ursa.

"I don't see why not--it's not as if he has use for them anymore, and it has been quite a while--seventy years, I believe. Everything should be fine."

Suki huffed but nodded nonetheless and walked forward, towards the library doors, gesturing for Sokka and Katara to follow her. 

"So," Suki was saying, "You guys are staying for dinner, I presume?"

"Yeah, we are," Katara answered, "But we have to leave as soon its over, we don't want to worry our parents."

"Oh, your parents are with you?" Suki asked and she sounded kind of shocked, like the idea of having parents that worry over their children was some sort of new concept that she had never heard of.

"Yeah, why wouldn't they be?" Sokka asked.

Suki hummed and shrugged, casually shoving her hands in the pockets of her pants, "Oh, nothing, it's just sort of unusual--that's all."

They lapsed into silence, that was kind of awkward and yet not at the same time. The kind of silence where no one knew what else to say, but they were fine not saying anything anyways. It was broken by Suki after a few moments.

"So, do they know?" She asked.

"So does who know what?" Katara shot back.

"So do your parents know about all this? You know, the whole being peculiar thing."

"No," Sokka answered, "They don't. And I don't think they would want to," he added that last part after remembering the conversation he had with his dad.

"Yeah," said a voice out of nowhere, making Sokka jump five feet into the air, "That's typically how it goes for us."

"How long have you been there?!" Sokka demanded, looking around wildly even though he knew it was pointless, considering Yue was invisible. 

"Oh, I've been here the whole time," Yue answered with tinkling laugh, Sokka could also hear Suki laughing from her spot next to him. 

"I can tell that's going to get old real fast," Sokka grumbled.

Suki just laughed harder and said, "You say that now, but Yue's been doing that for seventy years now and it has never once gotten old."

Even Katara was laughing at him now and Sokka couldn't help but roll his eyes at her, which made her laugh harder.

"Whatever," he said, "Can we just get our borrowed clothes please?"

Suki laughed again but nodded and they continued walking down the hallway before walking through the little pathway on the stairs and emerging on the other hallway upstairs, the one with all the bedrooms.

"So," Yue began, "How is Kanna?"

"Oh, yes!" Suki agreed, "How is she? Has she been up to anything interesting since we last saw?"

"Done anything more interesting than fighting a war?" Yue asked and Suki scoffed, "What could be more interesting than fighting a war?" Yue just hummed, "You never know, maybe she discovered a new type of technology or invented something killer-diller?"

"Still not more interesting than fighting a war."

Sokka chuckled awkwardly and exchanged a look with his sister who seemed just as uneasy as he felt. These girls seemed nice, and Sokka didn't want to lie to them but, Miss Ursa said that she didn't want anyone knowing about what happened to Gran-Gran and he couldn't just disrespect her wishes like that, especially when they just met.

"Gran-Gran is..." Sokka started but then trailed off, not knowing exactly where he was going with that.

"Gran-Gran's doing just great!" Katara said hastily, "She's the reason we're here you know, 'cause she wanted for us to meet all of you and to find about your world and stuff!"

"Yeah," Sokka agreed, "Kind of like a field trip--a life-changing one!"

"Why are you guys talking like that?" Suki questioned.

"What do you mean?!" Katara asked, "We always talk like this!"

"Yeah!" Sokka agreed.

Suki just looked at the two of them with a judgmental look on her face before shrugging, "Whatever," she sighed and stopped in front of a door, the one whose plaque said Jet.

She turned back to Sokka and Katara ( _and Yue, I guess_ ) and said, "Sokka, wait out here. Yue, you take Katara to Kanna's old room and help her find some clothes, alright?"

"You got it," Yue said, "Come on Katara, follow me!"

"How?" Katara asked before letting out a startled shriek as she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and pulled away by Yue. 

Sokka smirked. That was her comeuppance for laughing at him earlier for getting scared by Yue.

He turned back to Suki, "How come I've got to wait outside?"

"Oh...um," Suki cleared her throat, "Protocol."

"Protocol for what? And what happened to Jet? How come he doesn't 'have need for his clothes anymore'?"

"I--just wait out here, alright? I'll be back with you in a bit--oh and turn around, you can't look inside."

"Um...okay?" Sokka said, shrugging before turning around. He heard the door open and close, and a few minutes later, Suki remerged again. 

"Here," she said, handing him a pile of clothes, "Go into the room across the hall, and change in there. I'll be waiting out here for when you're done."

Sokka nodded and did what he was told.

* * *

When he and Katara emerged again, they were time appropriate clothes (which Sokka thought was a little ridiculous, after all, they'd be leaving after dinner anyways) and Yue was wearing a dress.

Katara and Sokka's clothes were a bit big, but that was to be expected when you were wearing borrowed clothes, and they fit well enough anyways. 

Katara was wearing the dress that Gran-Gran had been wearing in the photo that they found back at the house and Sokka could now see that the dress was a beige color with white dots on it. She was wearing a brown belt around the waist, probably to help with the size and to not make it seem so wide on her smaller frame. 

Sokka, on the other hand, was wearing a light blue collared shirt that was too big on him paired with dark blue pants, that were too big for him with a brown belt to hold it all together. It looked...well, it didn't look very attractive, that was all he had to say on that matter. 

Yue herself had put on some clothes. She was had on a dark blue buttoned dress with white flowers scattered on it and a pair of black flats on, and the fact that she was wearing clothes just now made Sokka think of how she had spent this entire time running around without any clothes on.

The whole "Suki will introduce you to everyone" thing that Miss Ursa said gave Sokka the impression that Suki would...you know, introduce him and Katara to all the other children as soon as they were done changing.

That did not happen. 

Instead, Suki and Yue dragged Sokka and Katara through a tour of the mansion, which, yeah okay, that seems necessary but still.

"Are you going to introduce us to everyone after the tour?" Katara asked looking at the wallpaper that they considered old-fashioned but was modern for this time. 

"I'm going to introduce you to everyone at dinner--much easier that way, less awkward than walking up to them individually when they're in the middle of something and introducing yourself."

"Everyone's really excited to meet you though," said Yue, "We haven't met someone new in so long, so the two of you are kind of a big deal." 

"Yeah," Suki agreed, "You're real popular."

"Yeah, it feels great to be popular amongst the large number of ten kids," Sokka said.

Suki just scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Actually, we're eleven."

"Oh, no, I was _one_ off, how horrible! This clearly means that I am terrible at math!"

And Suki just laughed in response. 

Sokka found that he enjoyed spending time with Suki and Yue, he found that the banter between them (and Katara) came easy--as if he was reuniting with an old friend that he hadn't seen in years.

After the tour, Suki had dragged Katara and Sokka back up to the library, insisting that it was better up there right now because they would need a minute or two collect themselves before having to meet everyone else.

"I mean, you've already met Azula and Aang," said Yue, "And if you think they're bad, just wait until you meet Ty Lee and Toph." 

So they were currently sitting at the library with Suki and Yue regaling Katara with tales of what Gran-Gran got up to back when she used to live here. Sokka took the opportunity to browse through the shelves and see what kind of books they had and saw some books that he'd heard of before, such as The Hobbit and Grapes of Wrath, and others that he had never heard of such as Tales of the Peculiar Vol. 1, which seemed to be a book of children's stories about peculiar people for peculiar people.

"--and so that's how the Blue Spirit was born," Suki was saying, "Because they pissed your grandmother off so bad, she needed to get revenge."

"So Gran-Gran was the Blue Spirit?" Katara asked, she sounded like she was very much immersed in Suki's stories.

"Not quite, you see..."

Sokka startled when he felt someone grab him on the shoulder. He whipped his head around and saw Yue's dress, and he had to say, that dress made it so much easier to talk to her.

"Find any interesting reads?" She asked kindly.

Sokka shrugged, "Sure," he gestured at the book he was holding, "I'm more interested in the books about your type."

"My type?"

"Peculiar people," Sokka clarified, "Gran-Gran never delved into too much detail about, and according to Miss Ursa, there's a whole lot of science behind peculiar people, and I want to learn about how it works in more detail--she clarified a few things, but I have a feeling that she was leaving quite a few things."

Yue hummed, "You know, I was never really that interested in finding out about how this type of stuff worked, but I can see how it could be something fascinating to study."

Sokka nodded, "So you've been living here for quite a while," he said, "so if I had any questions about time loops, you would know some of the answers, right?"

Yue made a noise and after a minute said, "Not really, I don't know much about how it works, or rather, the Science behind it, but I can tell you about its effects on the individuals who live in a time loop, and all about the island, if you'd be interested." 

Sokka nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, please!"

"I can tell you all about it after dinner, you and Katara still need someone to walk you back to the loop, and I'd be more than happy to guide you back, I can tell you all about it then."

"Yeah, that should work."

"Great, well, we better start making our way down to the dining room, dinner will be served soon and we should probably help the other guys set up the table."

The dress moved and started to walk away and Sokka followed, noticing that Katara and Suki were already waiting for them at the door. 

The walk from the library to the dining room was uneventful, but standing outside the room right now, Sokka could hear all types of noise coming from the inside. The noises mainly consisted of shouting with the occasional sound of something falling to the floor.

He exchanged a look with Katara who didn't seem to excited about going inside.

Suki opened the door to the dining room, and inside there was a scene of total chaos unveiling before their very eyes.

For one thing, Aang was floating around near the ceiling and he was being desperately chased by a tall boy with shoulder-length black hair who had flowers braided into it, Sokka thought he might've been Zuko, but he wasn't too sure. So the boy was running around after Aang screaming, "Aang, get down here this instant! We're about to have dinner! Don't make me get the rope!" with Aang yelling back, "I don't know, I can't help it!"

Hama was placing down the silverware onto the table with a forlorn expression upon her face. Every once in a while, she would throw a half-hearted glare at a short girl with black hair, one of the ones who had been playing football earlier, and milky white eyes. Said girl was currently stomping around the room and cackling like a maniac, seemingly trying to cause as much chaos as possible.

A little girl who appeared to be stuck at the edge of the table was getting helped by the boy with the cane, who every once in a while shot a worried look up at the ceiling and then another worried look at the blind girl.

The girl with her brown hair tied into a braid was currently cartwheeling around the room exclaiming about how excited she was to meet the new guests, a trail of flowers sprouting up behind her wherever she touched. The other girl, the one with black hair and all black and red clothes, was busy setting up the plates and, seemingly getting tired of listening to the boys' screaming, set down the plates, reached into her pockets and threw throwing knives up the ceiling, like a maniac, pinning Aang to the ceiling. 

Azula was sitting at the head of the table with her arms and legs crossed, glaring at everyone.

Suki chuckled at Katara and Sokka's expressions, "Let me introduce you to everyone," she said, further stepping into the room.

"The boy stuck in the ceiling is Aang, they boy chasing him down is Zuko. Kiyi is the one stuck to the table--it seems her back mouth got overexcited again." 

Her _what_?

"Teo is the one with cane, he's currently helping Kiyi dislodge herself from the table.

"You've already met Azula and Hama, Ty Lee is the one cartwheeling, Mai is the one with the knives, and Toph is the little gremlin child, stomping around and causing a ruckus." 

Sometimes during Suki speaking, Zuko had managed to get Aang down from the ceiling and was currently strapping him down to a chair, grumbling under his breath as he did. Teo successfully managed to get Kiyi dislodged from the table and helped her find her seat. Ty Lee was still cartwheeling around and Toph looked like she was going to collapse the house, but Suki told him not to pay any mind to that, because that happens often, and instead helped guide him and Katara to their seats, towards one end of the long table. 

Yue had gone and started to help Mai and Hama set up the table, and eventually, Miss Ursa started to come in and out of the room with different dishes. At some point, Zuko had left the room and started helping her set up the dishes of food, and before Sokka knew it, the dining room had gotten control and everyone was sitting down at their respective seats, ready to dig in (after Azula was kicked out of Miss Ursa's seat by her brother).

It was only a few minutes into dinner when Sokka and Katara started to get bombarded by questions.

"So," Azula asked, twirling her fork in one of her hands, "What, pray tell, is Kanna doing in the states?"

"Oh, yes," Ty Lee agreed excitedly, "Where is she, by the way? Is she here? Is she going to pay us a visit?"

Ty Lee was sat right across from Sokka, next to the gloomy girl, Mai. Now that Sokka could see her more closely he could see that she had light blue eyes and freckles sprinkled across her face here and there. She had a gap between her two front teeth and she was wearing a light pink dress with black tights underneath.

"Never mind what Kanna's been up to or where she is, let's eat," said Miss Ursa.

"Are Katara and Sokka going to stay with us?" Kiyi asked. 

Kiyi was sitting next to Zuko on his right side and on his other side sat Azula who was sat next to Katara's left. She had black hair that had been cut into a bob, she had brown eyes filled with child-like innocence (Sokka supposed that she was technically a child) and she was wearing a navy blue dress.

"We don't know yet," said Katara, "We're only here as guests, for the moment."

This caused Sokka to shoot Katara a look. They did know, they were only supposed to be here for two weeks and then it's off back to the U.S, and Katara knew this, she knew that they couldn't stay forever. She probably only said it to because Kiyi was a small child and she didn't want to make her sad...right?

"Bummer," Kiyi said, pouting, right before shoving a spoon to the back of her head which left Sokka reeling.

"What type of flying motorcars do you have in the future?" Teo asked and Sokka blinked at him.

"Um...none," he said, "Well, not yet anyway; we don't have the technology just yet, but they are working on a self-driving car. The cars we have right now are kind of like the cars you guys have, just more modern."

Teo nodded, looking very fascinated at the concept of a self-driving car but at the same time, disappointed to know that flying cars weren't a thing still, before digging back into his plate.

"Does Britain still rule the world?" Toph asked, her feet thrown up on the table, she was leaning back against her seat. Her clothes were similar to the ones that Suki was wearing.

"Not really, no," said Katara thoughtfully, "I don't think there is any one country that rules the world."

"Boring!" Toph scoffed.

"See children," Miss Ursa said, "The future isn't so grand after all. Nothing wrong with the good old here and now!"

Just how long have they been in the "good old here and now"?

"Do you mind me asking how old you all are?" Sokka asked.

"I'm 114!" Aang said, "And counting!"

"Aang was in another loop before this one, "Zuko explained, "Azula and I are 87, although, we turn 88 next week."

Azula rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes, next week will be the most important day ever in the history of humankind--the day _I_ was born--and Zuko too, I guess."

Sokka saw Zuko roll his eyes and he heard Ty Lee break into laughter at Azula's version of a joke.

"That was funny, Azula!" She exclaimed.

Azula nodded, as if she expected this, "Of course, I am a very funny person."

Sokka thought he heard Zuko mumble something along the lines of _sure you are_ , but he couldn't be sure. 

"I'm either 118 or 127," said Mai in a monotone voice, "I was also in another loop before this one, but I lost track."

Sokka nodded, not knowing what else to say. He turned to look at Suki, she was seating way down on the other side of the table and was seemingly engaged in a conversation with Yue. Hama was sitting across from her and she still looked quite miserable. He heard Aang chatting Katara up, but he was still busy taking everything in to pay that more mind. 

Ty Lee looked she was about to say something, but whatever it was had been cut off by a sudden noise. Sokka looked around in horror as he saw the pictures in the wall and the cutlery and dishes all rattling and shaking from the noise and vibrations off something--of a bomb.

"We have to get out here!" He yelled, standing up, "Before the bomb hits!"

Toph started cackling and Sokka shot her a look, "He doesn't know!" She yelled, "He thinks we're all going to die!"

"It's only the changeover," Zuko said calmly, and these kids did not have any right to look this calm or gleeful when a bomb was about to hit their home. 

"Changeover?" Katara asked, only looking and sounding slightly panicked.

Zuko looked like he was about to explain but he was quickly cut off by Aang, "Oh, it's just the sweetest thing," he said excitedly before turning to Miss Ursa, "Miss U, may we go outside and show Katara and Sokka?" 

Miss Ursa sighed, "All right," she conceded, "So long as you wear your masks."

There was a clattering and scraping noise as everyone quickly stood up and tried to rush outside, and Sokka felt somebody grab his arm and when he turned around he saw Suki, "Just you wait and see," she said with a dangerous smile on her face, "This is a show that you'll never forget."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I found a dead cockroach in my room, very freaked out right now.
> 
> Anyways, I'm trying to make the eye colors realistic, which is why Katara and Sokka have brown eyes, and why Ursa has brown eyes, and why Hama has brown eyes, and why Azula has hazel eyes. So, you might be wondering, if I'm trying to be realistic with the eye colors, why did I give Suki violet eyes? Well, violet eyes are an actual thing. Like, it is possible for someone to have violet eyes, I mean, less than 1% of the population have violet eyes (naturally, not cosmetically) but it is a thing. And if people can be invisible and turn into birds in this, then someone can have purple eyes, which is an actual thing.
> 
> Killer-diller is 40s slang for something amazing or sensational.


	11. Run Rabbit Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bombs ft. Zuko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, first chapter of 2021! 2020 has sucked for everyone, but it sucked very much for me, so we'll see how this year goes. 
> 
> I listened to Run Rabbit Run for the first time while writing this, and it's honestly a pretty good song. Anyways, we might live a different day, week, month, and year, but these kids don't, so let's get on with the chapter.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's left a comment/kudos, I greatly appreciate it.

Sokka was dragged outside by Suki. He saw Katara engaged in a friendly conversation with Aang and Yue up ahead, or well, he _thought_ that she was talking to Yue, but he couldn't be too sure. 

He looked around in a daze and he felt someone press a gas mask into his hands, and when he looked up, he saw Mai standing there, already wearing her own.

"Wear this," she said in her monotone voice, "You'll need it." 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Suki putting on her own mask, and walking outside he saw the rest of the kids standing around the garden, looking up at the night sky with those gas masks blocking their faces; it looked like a scene out of an apocalyptic movie.

He hastily put on his own mask and awkwardly walked around for a minute or two, not knowing where to stand before Katara grabbed his arm and pulled him towards where she and Aang were standing.

Aang quickly turned to them and said, "Just wait 'til you see it! This is one of the most awesome things you'll ever get to see in your life!"

Sokka wanted to point out how unlikely that was, considering that everything he had already seen and discovered today only, not to mention that he wasn't in the mood to see bombs falling out of the sky, destroying everything in its path, but before he could he was cut off by music of all things.

A slow, yet upbeat tune filled the garden, the tune was the epitome of 30s music--in fact, if somebody asked for Sokka to summarize the decade of the 30s, this is the song he would choose. The tune was soon accompanied by the voice of a man singing.

 _On the farm, ev'ry Friday  
On the farm, it's rabbit pie day  
So ev'ry Friday, that ever comes along  
_ _I get up early and sing this little song_

Sokka heard a loud _BOOM!_ in the distance, startling him out of his stupor, and looking up at the sky he saw explosions and bombs falling right out of the sky. In the background, he heard the song still playing, this time the singing man was accompanied by another singing man.

 _Run, rabbit, run  
_ _Run, rabbit  
_ _Run, run, run_

The kids were cheering, and oohing and aweing at the _bombs_ as if they were fireworks. Sokka listened to the lyrics and decided that he wanted to be the rabbit and just run as far away as he could.

 _Bang, bang, bang, bang  
_ _Goes the farmer's gun_

Sokka realized that the music was timed perfectly to when each of the bombs exploded, the _bang, bang, bang_ being perfectly in sync with the explosions, only adding to the surrealism of this whole thing.

_Don't give the farmer his fun, fun, fun  
He'll get by without his rabbit pie, so  
Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run_

Sokka saw in horror as the bombs began to get closer and closer to them, it was only a matter of time before the bombs started to hit the house, killing them in the process, because they were supposed to be dead, these bombs were supposed to have killed them. This was supposed to be the exact moment they all died, and yet these kids were signing and dancing to that morbid song, admiring the sky and the bombs falling from the sky.

Sokka braced himself for impact as he saw the falling bomb getting closer and closer, though he knew it was fruitless; it's been seventy years, and they were still alive, so clearly, they weren't in any actual danger, but that didn't mean that he wasn't scared.

And then, everything stopped.

There was no impact, there was no final explosion, and in the background, the song slowed down and eventually stopped, never getting to reach its end.

_Am I dead?_

He looked up and saw that the topiary had caught the bomb with its finger.

_What?_

And then his eyes widened as he saw everything around him rewind and start to go backwards. The bombs getting sucked back into the sky, the planes flying away, the sky rapidly lightening and darkening again, and then everything started moving again, and the song started again from the beginning.

He slowly took off his mask and saw the kids begin to burst into laughter and giggles, so clearly, he had not done a good job at hiding his fear. 

Next to him, he saw Katara take off her mask as well, her face having paled. At least he wasn't the only one scared shitless by seeing a bomb raid up close.

Suddenly, Miss Ursa entered his line of sight with an amused look on her face, "My apologies," she said, "I should have better prepared the two of you." 

Sokka got the feeling that he had been hazed.

"What just happened?" Katara asked.

Miss Ursa smiled at her, "Like Zuko told you, it was the changeover. When the bombs start falling, that's when I have to reset the loop so that we may continue to live peacefully another day. It is now night time, the second day of September, 1940."

Okay, so Sokka would have to learn more about how time loops worked.

Katara nodded, "We'll have to get going now," she said, ever the responsible one, "Our parents are probably sick with worry right now."

"Of course," Miss Ursa said, nodding, "Zuko here will show you the way back."

Zuko, who was in the process of taking the flowers out of his hair, startled and shot Katara and Sokka an apprehensive look. Sokka himself shot Yue a look. She was the one who was supposed to guide him and Katara back, and that was when they were supposed to have an in depth discussion about how loops worked and its effects on the inhabitants. He saw Yue's dress shrug and he supposed that was her way of telling him to just go with it. 

_There's always tomorrow_ , he supposed, _Or--not tomorrow, I guess, just today, but again. But it's currently September 2, but then it'll be September 3 again? God, this whole thing is so confusing!_

Zuko awkwardly approached the two of them, "Follow me," he said gruffly before walking away, not even bothering to check if they were following him or not

* * *

The walk back home was filled with awkward, lingering silence between the three of them.

Zuko was walking up ahead of them with a flame cupped in his hand, just like Azula had done earlier with her own flame, but Azula's flame had been blue and Zuko's was a nice golden color.

Sokka quickly walked forwards a tiny bit so that he and Zuko were now walking side by side with Katara walking behind them. 

"Hey, that's pretty cool," Sokka said, gesturing at Zuko's flame, hoping that that was a good enough ice breaker.

Zuko shot him a confused look, "It isn't cool at all," he said, "It's actually quite hot."

Sokka blinked at him, "That's not what--never mind."

He thought he heard Katara laugh from somewhere behind him.

"So...you control fire, huh?" Sokka tried again.

"Yes," Zuko said stiffly, "You're seeing me do it right now." 

"Yes, that's why I asked."

"Oh."

They lapsed into silence and Sokka heard Katara heave out an annoyed sigh.

"So, you have a sister?" 

Zuko nodded, "Azula," he said, "You've met her, she was supposed to bring you here."

Sokka scoffed and said, "Oh, we've met alright."

Zuko chuckled softly, "Yes...she can be quite intense."

"I think that might be a bit of an understatement," Sokka said, "She practically kidnapped me and my sister!"

"That sounds like something she would do. But don't mind her, she's just paranoid."

Sokka thought that might've been the most words that Zuko has said at once. 

"Yes, Yue mentioned that." 

They lapsed into silence again. Sokka saw Zuko looking him up and down of the corner of his eye, and upon closer inspection, he saw that Zuko wasn't looking at him, but rather at his clothes with an odd expression his face.

Sokka looked down at himself and realized that he was still wearing his borrowed clothes. He suspected that the reason Zuko was looking at him like that was because of how ridiculous Sokka looked in these clothes that were definitely too large for him, and then belatedly realized the larger issue at hand--he and Katara had forgotten their clothes back at the house, and with the clothes they had also forgotten their phones.

"Wait, we have to go back," he said.

Zuko paused, "What? Why?"

Katara paused too and gave him a look.

"Katara and I forgot our clothes and our phones back at your house."

Katara frowned slightly, "Oh, God! We did!" 

Zuko frowned, "Phones? You mean, in the future telephones are portable?" 

"Huh? Oh yeah, but we have to go back."

Zuko's eyes widened with amazement at hearing that phones can be carried around in the future instead of just staying at home stuck up in the wall, "That's so fascinating," he breathed, "You'll have to show me it--your portable telephone, I mean."

"I mean, sure, I can show it to you, but we have--"

"Sokka, we don't have time to go back," Katara interjected.

"But what are we supposed to tell Mom and Dad when we get back and they see that we aren't wearing the same clothes that we left with?"

Katara shrugged, "I don't know...we'll figure something out, let's just focus on getting back to our time."

Sokka sighed and shook his head before acquiescing, he supposed that Katara did have a point, they were already more than halfway through, and it would take a lot of time to go back, change, and walk back, and their parents were sure to be very worried already.

They continued to walk in silence, a silence that was eventually broken by the person Sokka least expected, Zuko.

"So," he began softly, sounding sort of sad, but Sokka couldn't tell if he was sad or just hesitant to start a conversation, "Kanna--your grandmother, she's dead, isn't she."

It was not a question.

Sokka's walking came to an abrupt stop and Katara stopped walking as well, shooting an alarmed look to the back of Zuko's head.

"I--" Sokka began before sighing and giving in, if he's already figured it out, then there's no point in outright lying to him, "Yes," he whispered, "She's dead."

Zuko frowned and turned his head away so that Sokka could only see the back of his head and Katara only the scarred side of his face.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he whispered, "...and I'm sorry for asking, I shouldn't have, it was rude of me."

Sokka shot Katara a look, not knowing how to handle this.

"Don't be sorry," Katara said in a soft voice, "You were friends with her, weren't you? You had every right to ask about her well being."

"Yeah...we were close friends."

"You know," Sokka said, "When I was younger, I always wanted to meet you. Gran-Gran always talked about you and what a great friend you were to her. Now that it's actually happening...I just wish it'd happened under different circumstances."

"Yeah," Zuko whispered, "Me too."

Zuko composed himself rather quickly and began walking again. Sokka shot Katara a quick glance, and she just shrugged at him before the two of them followed suit.

Eventually, they reached the cave and Zuko stopped right outside the entrance, "Here," he said, "This is the way out, The Cave of Two Lovers--or as we like to call it, the Secret Tunnel. In order to get back to your time, you have to walk inside and walk all the way to the end of the cave before turning around and walking out, when you walk out, you should be walking out into the modern times. And in order to get back to our time, just do the same thing."

Katara nodded at him, "Thank you for walking us back, Zuko," she said before walking into the cave.

Sokka turned to him and tilted his head forwards, "Bye, Zuko, see you and the rest of you tomorrow--or today rather--or just, you know what? See ya, just see ya."

He turned around and began to walk to the cave, but he stopped when he felt Zuko grab onto his arm. Sokka looked at him in confusion and saw Zuko standing there, looking rather unsure of himself.

"Hey, Sokka...can you tell me all about your portable telephone tomorrow, and about how it works?"

"Uh...yeah, sure, man."

Zuko smiled slightly, "Oh, um, thanks..." he trailed off awkwardly before waving goodbye and walking away. 

Sokka waved back before walking into the cave himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been researching some 1930s slang, because I'm kind of stupid and I realized these guys would be more likely to use slang from the thirties than the forties, and I wanted to incorporate that, and boy, I think 30s slang my be my favorite era of slang words to use. Here are some of my personal favorites:  
> Dog soup-a glass of water  
> Bumping gums- small talk, basically  
> Giggle juice- whiskey  
> Muggles- weed  
> Blower- telephone  
> Baby- glass of milk  
> Bean shooter- gun  
> Cinder dick- railroad detective  
> Doggy- a well dressed person in a self conscious way  
> Gobble-pipe- saxophone  
> Honey cooler- kiss  
> Murder!- Wow!  
> Pitching woo, making whoopee- making love
> 
> The time loop being the secret tunnel was not my idea, it was actually DK_05's idea, so thank you for that stroke of genius.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading, and even bigger thanks if you read all of these stupid slang words that have nothing to do with the story.


	12. A Little Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids put on a show, and some bonding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did y'all know that there are Peculiar Children graphic novels? Because there are peculiar children graphic novels and I bought the first one today.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter, thank you to everyone who left a comment and a kudos, I greatly appreciate and it makes me happy to know that people are enjoying this story.

The walk back to the Singing Nomad was tedious because of how dark it had gotten and everything was just so much more difficult to traverse through at night. With how dark it was mixed with the fog that still hadn't gone away, it was almost impossible and Sokka wished that he'd asked Zuko to guide him and Katara all the way back, not just to the loop--or the secret tunnel or whatever.

The mud and the fallen leaves squelched underneath his shoes as Sokka stumbled his way through the dense forest. Katara was making her way up ahead from him, having made it back to their current time before he had had, so now he was left to play catch up to her.

Eventually, they stumbled back into town and saw that everything had been exactly how they'd left it, sad and lifeless. 

The night wasn't what one would call quiet, it was silent and still, and Sokka found himself wondering how the island could have been so full of color and noise once and only for it to be like this now? How could everything change _this_ much?

Katara exhaled and stretched her limbs, breaking the silence that currently blanketed the island.

"Well," she began, "today was certainly eventful, huh?"

Sokka chuckled, "You're telling me."

Their footsteps echoed into the night as they trekked back to the bar/hotel. Or did the bar count as a motel instead? It didn't really matter, did it?

"So, what do you think of everyone?" She asked.

Sokka shrugged dismissively, "I dunno," he mumbled, "They seemed nice."

"Yeah, they seemed nice," Katara agreed softly, looking off into the distance.

"They seemed nice," Sokka repeated, "and a little mysterious."

They had just reached the Singing Nomad, the swinging side proudly proclaiming that there was only one room to let. Katara stepped forward and swung open the door saying, "Well, that's to be expected with them--their type. I mean, they call themselves _peculiar_ , so I'm pretty sure that mysteriousness is part of the jig."

The inside of the bar was a nice contrast to the rest of the island, lively and warm with people singing and dancing. Right now, the regular patrons were singing a song warning the listener to not fall in love with a travelling girl because she'll live you broken hearted. Chong, as usual it seemed, was leading the song and barely acknowledged Katara and Sokka as they passed everyone else and made their way up the stairs, noticing that their parents were missing from the festivities.

"I don't know," Sokka sighed, running his hand through his hair, "Didn't you get the feeling that they were hiding something?"

"I mean, yeah," Katara said, tilting her head to the side in thought, "but, I mean, so were we, so who's to say that they're bad people for that?"

"I didn't say they were bad people because of it," Sokka defended, "I was just taking note that they're keeping something from us for whatever reason."

"Well, we _are_ technically strangers," Katara pointed out, "I wouldn't blame them for not telling us everything about their lives the instant they met us, and besides, from the looks of it, something bad happened a couple years ago, so maybe they're still on edge about that--you saw how Azula and Hama were acting when we first met them, so who knows?" 

And that was another thing. There were eleven kids, but Sokka knew that they used to be twelve. He was given Jet's clothes to wear because he "wouldn't need them anymore," he wasn't allowed inside Jet's room even though Katara was allowed inside Gran-Gran's and that night during dinner, he never once made an appearance, so clearly, something had happened there, and for some reason, they weren't telling him and Katara what and Sokka couldn't help but wonder why.

They finally reached their room and the moment they stepped inside they were engulfed in a suffocating hug by Kya.

"Oh, thank God you're back," she said, "Your father and I were so worried when you didn't show up at dinner!"

"Sorry," Sokka said trying his best to wrap and arm around her, "I guess Katara and I must've lost track of time over there at the house."

Kya frowned and pulled away, "You mean to tell me that you spent the _whole_ day at that house? You know, I don't think that's what Dr. Zhao had in mind when he told you would benefit from this trip. I don't think that's healthy, Sokka."

"And just what are the two of you wearing?" Hakoda questioned, getting up from the spot of the bed in which he was sitting act. 

Kya frowned and inspected them more closely, just noticing for the first time their odd clothes. "Yes," she said, "What are you wearing and where are your clothes?"

Sokka shot Katara a panicked look, "Oh...um," he started, not knowing where he was going with that before Katara took over.

"They got dirty," she lied, "We tripped over a tree stump on the way and got covered in mud."

Kya nodded. Hakoda just looked even more confused, "So, where are they? And where did you get those," he gestured at their outfits.

"Well, you see, they're with the children!" Sokka said. 

"The children?" Kya asked.

Katara glared at her brother before turning back to her parents, "Yes," she said through gritted teeth, "The children. We were hanging out with the children who live on the other side of the island. And their caretaker noticed that our clothes were dirty and offered to wash them for us and she gave us these ones to wear, she said we could return them tomorrow and she'll return ours."

Kya smiled, "So you've made friends here, then?"

Katara and Sokka nodded in unison.

"That's great! I hope you'll be able to stay in touch with them once we leave--oh and the two of you had better thanked the nice lady for washing your clothes, _or else_ , because I know I taught you better than that."

"Of course we thanked them, Mom!" Sokka exclaimed even though they technically hadn't.

"Yeah, Mom, who do you take us for?" 

Kya just shot them an unconvinced look at them, as if saying that she was well aware of how they could be before shaking her head and turning back to her husband. 

Sokka felt bad about lying to his parents, but it's not as if he had much of a choice, and he thought as much as he got ready for bed.

* * *

That morning the air was chilly and lapped harshly at Sokka and Katara's cheeks, reddening them. They had eaten a quick breakfast with their parents before saying their goodbyes and announcing they were going to spend the day with the children who lived on the other side on the island, which wasn't a lie per say, it just wasn't the entire truth.

Sokka was almost surprised when he emerged from the other side of the cave and into the 40s to see that not only was it warm here, it was sunny and bright too. He was actually surprised when he saw Zuko waiting for him and Katara by the entrance of the cave. His hazel eyes lit up when he noticed them. 

"Hey," he said, waving slightly, "Nice of you to finally show up, everyone's been waiting for you for hours."

"How long have you been standing there?" Sokka questioned, rolling up the sleeves of his borrowed shirt.

Zuko shrugged casually. He was wearing a white collared shirt with short sleeves, showing off his muscled arms, paired with a pair of loose fitted dark blue pants that were being held together by a brown belt. His hair had been tied up in a style similar to his sister's with a few flyaway strands.

"Not that long actually, Miss Ursa sent me here to make sure that you guys didn't get lost or something."

"So you were planning on just standing there?" Katara questioned, hands on her hips.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said before straightening himself and moving to walk away, gesturing for them to follow, "Now come on, the kids are excited to put on a show for you."

"You guys are a putting a show for us?" Katara asked.

"Mhm, something to introduce you guys to our peculiarities."

"Oh, that's nice," Sokka said offhandedly, "So are you guys going to be wearing costumes?"

Zuko scoffed and rolled his eyes, "The only person wearing a costume is going to be Toph once Miss Ursa catches her and forces her to put on a dress."

Sokka found himself laughing at that. He hadn't known Toph for very long, but he already had a pretty good idea as to what she was like.

"So, the show, it's about showing off your peculiarities?" Katara asked curiously.

"Hmm? Yeah." Zuko answered dismissively.

Katara nodded, "I actually had a question about that. How do you...how do you figure it out?"

"Figure what out?"

"How to control your peculiarities," Katara explained, "I've been practicing with mine secretly for years, and I've got some things figured out, but not that much. There's still so much about my ability that I don't know much about, I don't have much control over it, either."

Zuko nodded, "Well, for some of us, we kind of already know what to do. It's as natural as learning how to walk or talk, it was like that with Azula, but for others, like me and you, it's a bit more difficult to figure out and you need the help and guidance from someone else who already knows how to do it, like learning how to read and write. I personally had to get help from Azula in order to get better control of my peculiarity."

"Oh," Katara sighed, "Well, I don't suppose that one of you knows how to manipulate water?"

"No, sorry, but I'm sure there are some books on it. You see, there some peculiars out there who wrote down books and journals about their peculiarities as a way to help others like them, I'm sure we can find something that can help you."

"Yes, that'd be very helpful, thank you."

They had finally reached the house and Sokka noticed a makeshift stage made out of stone that had not been there the day before with a white cloth folded up neatly in the center. He saw--or didn't see--Yue wearing a purple knee-length skirt with a purple blazer and a white collared shirt with a black ribbon tied around the collar. She was also wearing a purple top hat.

Next to her, Teo was sitting down on a stone stool, wearing a black and white tuxedo and he was tuning a violin. Ty Lee was standing in front of the stage and she was busy stretching and contorting her body into impossible looking positions that looked very uncomfortable to Sokka, she was dressed as a flapper with black tights underneath her dress.

Mai was sitting down on another stone stool wearing a long, black dress that reached up to her ankles paired with black flats. She was busy sharpening her knives and glaring at nothing in particular. Toph was sitting cross-legged on the floor wearing a light green dress and glaring at everyone, so apparently Miss Ursa won the battle. Azula was leaning against the stage and looking at her nails, she was wearing red lipstick and was wearing a red dress that reached her knees with a yellow bow tied around tied around the waist.

Suki was wearing the same clothes she had on yesterday and was busy brushing Kiyi's hair, tying it up in a half-up half-down style. Kiyi was wearing a pink dress with a large, white bow tied to the waist, just like Azula's dress.

Hama was sitting on a stone stool that was facing the stage looking glum. She had her head buried in her arms, wearing an expensive looking light blue dress that reached up to her knees with matching blue shoes. Her black hair had been tied up in a complicated looking up-do with curls on it. Aang was running around wearing yellow and red, traditional Tibetan Monk robes. Every once in a while he would shoot a look towards the woods, probably waiting for Sokka and Katara to show up, before turning back around with slight disappointment.

Sokka turned to Zuko, "So, you lied to me," he said, "You guys _are_ wearing costumes."

"No, these are the clothes we wear every day," he deadpanned before walking forward and sitting down on the ground. Sokka followed suit, sitting down next to him.

"Katara!" Aang exclaimed, running as quickly as he could with those lead shoes weighing him down and grabbing onto her arm, "You're here! Come sit with me, I can't wait to show you well...our show! It's so much fun, you're going to enjoy it!"

"Oh--sure, Aang!" Said Katara, allowing him to drag her away to the other side of the makeshift audience.

Zuko turned back to Sokka, "Don't get your hopes up too high," he said, "We haven't done this routine in _years_. The last time we did it, it was for Kanna, that's how long it's been, so seriously, do not get your hopes up."

Sokka smirked at him, "So, basically, what you're telling him is that you guys suck?"

Zuko frowned in confusion, "Suck? Like...sucking a straw? Or do you mean someone who is naïve?"

Sokka frowned in slight exasperation, "No. I'm saying suck as in you guys are bad, but in a teasing way so it isn't mean."

Zuko nodded as if Sokka had gone off about some complicated physics law instead of explaining some simple slang.

"I see," he said, "So, it's kind of like me calling someone a dead hoofer?"

"I...have no idea what that means," Sokka said, "You know what? We'll work on this later. Why don't you tell me about the show?"

"What do you want to know?"

"What do you guys do? Like, can you tell me the general gist of what happens during them?"

"And what?" Zuko asked, smirking slightly, "And ruin the surprise? I'm sorry, but you'll just have to wait and see."

Sokka sighed and rolled his eyes. He leaned forward slightly, a quip at the tip of his tongue but before he could say anything, he was cut off by Yue's voice ringing out throughout the backyard.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" She announced, "It gives me the utmost pleasure to present to you a performance like no other in history!"

Looking around, Sokka noticed the children had finished setting up and had settled down in the audience. Some, like Teo, sitting on stone slabs and stools, others simply sitting down on the grass. 

"I give you...Miss Ursa and her Peculiar Children!"

"For our first illusion, I will produce Miss Peregrine herself!" 

Yue's clothes moved forward and the white cloth was being lifted in the air, which Sokka assumed meant that Yue was holding it. It unfolded and it was being held up so that it was kind of like a screening sheet. Suddenly, a peregrine falcon flew forward and dove behind the cloth, seconds later, Miss Ursa emerged, the cloth being tied around her body to cover her up, because it appeared as if she wasn't wearing any clothes.

The children started cheering and clapping wildly, and Sokka thought it was cute how enthusiastic they all were--with the obvious exceptions of Azula and Mai--about cheering for her considering that this must've been the millionth time they'd seen her do something like this.

Miss Ursa bowed before turning to look at Sokka and Katara, "Katara, Sokka, I am so happy to see you've returned. This was a little exhibition we used to tour around the continent. I thought the two of you would've found it instructive. He saw Katara nodding from where she was sat next to Aang and wondered if she was taking this show as something she could study to help with her own peculiarity.

Miss Ursa walked off the stage and Yue took over once again, "On with the show!"

The first two performances after Miss Ursa were Suki "The Strong Dame" and Toph "The Blind Bandit."

Sokka quickly turned to Zuko and whispered into his unscarred ear, "I thought you were supposed to...you know, keep your peculiarities a secret? Isn't this counterproductive to that?"

"Everyone just thought they were stunts and tricks," Zuko whispered back, "Nobody suspected a thing and people have this tendency to not notice things they aren't looking for, so nobody suspected a thing."

Teo began to play the Can Can on the violin to the best of his ability and Suki and Toph, who were already on stage, began moving to the beat in perfectly synchronized choreography.

Toph would manipulate the stone that stage was made out of, turning them into boulders and throwing them at Suki. Suki would catch the boulders with her bare hands without breaking a sweat, she would then throw the boulders to the ground and the moment the connected with the ground, Toph would have the boulder liquidate and turn into mud before smoothing out and turning back into the smooth stone the stage was made out of.

Sokka watched in fascination as he saw the two girls do their performance and couldn't help but wonder how it was that Toph had such perfect aim, considering she was blind and all. 

Zuko, seemingly reading his mind, turned to him and whispered an explanation, "Toph uses her peculiarity to see; using the vibrations of the earth, it basically tells her anything she needs to know, it's almost as if she has working eyes."

Sokka nodded, even more fascinated with Toph's peculiar now that he had learned that.

Toph and Suki were greeted to enthusiastic clapping and cheering from the crowd as soon as they finished their stunt, they bowed and took their seats back in the audience. Next up was Aang, who demonstrated his ability to defy gravity to the tune of some classical song that Sokka did not know the name of. After Aang (who got down with the combined efforts of Zuko, Toph, and Miss Ursa, now dressed) was Ty Lee who danced to the tune of Vivaldi's Spring, and every time her feet or hands touched the ground beautiful flowers would sprout up, Sokka noticed some daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips amongst other flowers that he did not recognize but were very pretty and colorful nonetheless. 

He noticed Zuko get a wistful look on his face as he watched Ty Lee dance around the stage with the flowers following her every move. He wondered what that was about, and thought about asking, but a voice that sounded very much like Katara's told him that it wasn't his place to do so, so with that, he turned his attention back to Ty Lee. 

After Ty Lee, came Mai. Mai's performance was very brief and did not have any music to go with it, and it had nothing to do with knives, so she had just been sharpening those for fun, apparently. No, Mai's performance was simply just her sitting down at a stone table made by Toph. She had a doll in her hand, and tweezer in the other. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a jar with a _heart_ floating in colorless liquid. A _heart_. An _actual_ _heart_.

He shot Zuko an alarmed look, but he was acting like that was the most normal thing in the world, so he turned to look at Katara instead who looked just as freaked out as he did. Even Aang was looking less enthusiastic and a little grossed out. 

Mai took off the doll's dress to reveal a hole right where a heart would go if it were a living person, she then opened the jar and used the tweezers to pull the heart out. She placed the heart inside the doll and used the tweezers as a makeshift needle and sewed the doll back up and after a second it _sprang to life_ and started _moving around the table_. 

Sokka gasped in horror, shock, and amazement before the doll collapsed and stopped moving. Mai stared blankly at the crowd and everyone erupted into cheers and started clapping, Ty Lee the loudest of all. She bowed briefly and retook her spot in the crowd.

Kiyi was up next, no music either, and all she did was sit there and pull her hair back to show that she, did in fact, have a mouth in the back of her head.

"And now, for the grand finale," Zuko whispered before walking up the stage accompanied by Azula.

Teo started Vivaldi's The Storm, and Azula and Zuko immediately fell into a choreographed fight, or well, it _seemed_ choreographed, it was completely in sync with the music and Sokka watched in amazement as the two of them shot flames at each other. It was a contrasting show of blue and gold and Sokka noted that Azula was very aggressive, shooting flames from her fists at her brother directly whereas Zuko was more defensive, blocking and snuffing out Azula's blue flames before shooting his own gold ones at her. Their flames danced around in sync with the music and their bodies and when they were done, it seemed their little fight had ended in a draw, they turned to the audience to receive an applause just as loud as all the other ones had been. They bowed in unison and took their places back in the audience and Yue came up on stage once more.

"And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we conclude our show! Good night--I mean good afternoon? Erm...goodbye!"

Their makeshift crowd broke into applause once more before dispersing and beginning to clean everything up. 

"So, what'd you think?" Zuko asked, turning back to Sokka.

Sokka shrugged, "It was...impressive," he conceded, "Some parts were a bit gross, but that's to be expected."

Zuko looked confused again, "What do you mean?"

"Well--" Sokka was cut off by the arrival of Azula with Mai and Ty Lee in tow.

"Zuzu," she said in a haughty tone, "We're taking the new girl to the beach," she gestured to Katara with her head, "and then we're going to annihilate her, Suki, and Yue at a game of volleyball. Are you and your new friend coming?"

Zuko smirked slightly at her, "Of course, everyone knows you need my help to win at volleyball anyways."

Azula rolled her eyes and inspected her nails, "Don't flatter yourself, you're only the third most valuable member of our team. So, are you guys coming or not?" 

Zuko looked at Sokka and it took him a minute to realize that he was looking at Sokka for confirmation, "Oh--um, yeah," Sokka said awkwardly, trying to not to squirm under Azula's intense stare.

"Good," she said, "Go and get ready, and _don't_ be late," she said, and with that, she and her friends walked away with Ty Lee happily waving goodbye.

Zuko grabbed his arm, "Come on," he said leading him back to the house, "You can take borrow one of my swim trunks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so, I am currently working on a Hama interlude of sorts, it's basically just a one shot about Hama's feelings about Kanna and about how she feels about Katara and Sokka being there, and I plan on publishing it tomorrow, which is my last day of break. I already have more than half of it written down, but I was wondering if that was something you guys were interested in reading, if not I can just scrap it and forget about it. 
> 
> Dead hoofer is 30s slang for a bad dancer  
> Dame is 30s slang for woman


	13. There's Something Wild About You, Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonding ft. the inherent homoeroticism of telling your buddy about cellphones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so I'm currently watching Alice in Wonderland (animated version) while writing this and I forgot how much of a trip this movie was. It's my last day of break and this chapter was really late. Whoops. Anyways, from tomorrow on (until spring break) I'm going to focus more on school, so I'm thinking of updating this story every Sunday, if I can. Updates will become more sporadic as I am working on other stories besides this one, just a heads up.
> 
> Anyways, this chapter is kind of filler, it's really just Sokka and Zuko talking about phones, but I wanted to publish something today before my break ends but it already got super late so I had to cut this chapter down, so I'm probably going to update again tomorrow. 
> 
> Fun Fact: I forgot how to spell the word 'swim' this chapter. Yes, I am ashamed
> 
> I had no idea what to name this chapter, so I just took a lyric from Let's Misbehave by Irving Aaronson and His Commanders
> 
> Hope you enjoy, thanks to everyone who commented and left a kudos, it makes really happy :)

Zuko dragged Sokka up the stairs of the house and into his bedroom. It wasn't very spacious, but it wasn't very small either. 

The walls were painted a soft shade of white and they were covered in posters and other types of paper--like the room of a regular teenage boy, except old-fashioned. Instead of posters for action movies or Star Wars or maybe the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles there were maps of the world tacked up on the walls with pins stuck in them in seemingly random countries. There was also magazine pictures of actors that were really famous in this era, but were probably already long gone in Sokka's era. There were also playbills for plays that Sokka had never heard of, but assumed were very popular right now--or, _not_ right now.

There was a double bed against the wall in the center of the room with bedside tables on either side. The bed was wooden and the bedsheets were a deep red that stuck out against the white of the room. Above the bed, there was a giant window that opened up into the outside with dark red curtains that matched the bedsheets. 

Sokka took note of a bookcase that was filled to the brim with books, but which he found a bit redundant considering these guys already had a library, but he assumed that these books were personal to Zuko specifically. There was a wooden writing desk with an old-fashioned lamp on it, angled down at an open, leather journal with a fountain pen lying next to it. Sokka took note of some black and white pictures of Zuko and his friends scattered across the room. But what caught Sokka's attention the most was the pair of swords tucked away in a scabbard that were hanging proudly on the other side of the world. 

Sokka turned back to Zuko, who was currently digging around a wooden armoire.

He thought of striking up a conversation with him, but despite how easy it had been talking to him earlier, right now he couldn't think of much to say.

Zuko turned back to him and tossed him a piece of cloth before going back into his wardrobe and digging around again.

Sokka inspected the bathing suit. It wasn't much different from the bathing suits they had back in 2011, only just slightly shorter, kind of like a long speedo or slightly longer boxer briefs. It was black and solid colored with no patterns of the sort on it, kind of boring really.

Sokka looked up and saw the bathing suit Zuko was going to wear wasn't that different from Sokka's, only his was red instead of black. 

Zuko turned back to him and raised the only eyebrow he had, and Sokka supposed that he aught leave the room so that he could get changed. 

Sokka cleared his throat awkwardly and gestured to the door, "I'm going to go...yeaah..." he trailed off and threw the door open, stepping outside before closing it again. Out in the hallway, he ran into Hama who had been looking for someone. 

She turned to look at him and her eyes widened slightly at seeing him before she schooled her features again, "Sokka," she said coolly, "I've been looking for you."

"You have?" Sokka asked, wincing at the way his voice cracked at the last syllable.

The last time Hama had been looking for him ended with him getting pressed up against the wall with a knife pressed against his throat having his life threatened, and then he passed out and woke up with his hands tied. Okay, so, the passing out bit might have been more of Sokka's fault than it was Hama's, but still. She had done everything else.

"It's nothing bad," she said, noticing his expression and the fear in his eyes, "I guess I just wanted to apologize for my behavior. It was uncalled for. I am sorry. I knew who you and your sister were, I just didn't want to believe it, but that doesn't excuse my actions. I hope you can forgive me."

Hama then stared at him expectantly and Sokka blinked at her.

The two of them stood awkwardly outside of Zuko's room until Sokka realized that he should probably say something and acknowledge her apology.

"Oh! Um...apology accepted?" The way he phrased was more like a question but Hama seemed satisfied enough, nodding and walking away down the hall and into what Sokka presumed was her own room and slammed the door shut. 

Sokka stared after her, his mind still reeling from the weird conversation before shaking his head and walking away into the empty room across the hall where he had changed in earlier.

He was glad to see that his clothes were still there, folded up just where he left them. He took off the clothes from the burrowed clothes with gusto before putting on the bathing suit. The room was bare, clearly being used as a storage room of sorts, but this did mean that there was no mirror that Sokka could use to see if he looked stupid. He looked down at himself and decided that it wasn't too bad, at least it wasn't as bad as wearing Jet's big clothes. 

He stood around the room awkwardly, not really knowing what to do. Should he wait for Zuko? That was normally common courtesy, but should he wait for Zuko in here? Did Zuko even know that Sokka was in here? Should he wait for Zuko out in the hall in front of his room? Or was that too needy? Should he wait for him downstairs? Or should he wait for him with everybody else? Where _was_ everyone else?

After overthinking things for way too long, Sokka decided that the safest option was to wait for Zuko out in the hall, only to run into him right outside the door. Zuko had already changed into his own swim suit and he had a light blue towel draped over his shoulders. 

"Can you show it to me now?" Zuko asked, "Before we go?"

Sokka blinked at him, not knowing what to say.

"Huh?"

"The portable telephone," Zuko said, "Yesterday you said you were going to talk to me about it and how it worked."

"Oh...um. Right."

"So, can we do it now?"

"Uh...sure," Sokka opened the door again and gestured for Zuko to follow him inside.

Sokka bent over and picked up his discarded jeans and reached for his phone, which was still in the pockets. Zuko looked at the clothes with curiosity.

"So, that's what you guys wear in the future?" He asked.

Sokka triumphantly pulled his phone out, "Huh? Oh, yeah. That is in fact what we wear."

He turned back to Zuko and held his phone out for him to grab and look over. Zuko's eyes widened when he looked at it and he quickly grabbed it out of Sokka's hands, eagerly looking it over, " _This_ is a telephone?" 

"Yeah, but in the future we take out the tele part and just call it a phone."

Zuko frowned in confusion, inspecting Sokka's phone more closely. Sokka winced slightly at the carelessness in which Zuko handled his phone, "Careful," he said, "The screen is made out of glass, and if you drop it it might break."

Zuko shot him an apologetic look before handling the phone with more care; the type of care in which one might handle a baby duck or something.

"It doesn't _look_ like a telephone--sorry-- _phone_."

Sokka shrugged, "That's just what phones look like in the future."

Zuko nodded, "It kind of looks like a television," he said, "a really small television."

Sokka nodded and wondered if he should tell Zuko what other things phones can do in the future, before deciding that he should, purely because of how funny his reaction will be.

"You know, in the future phones aren't really used for calling people anymore," he said, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.

Zuko tilted his head to the side in confusion, kind of like a cat, "They don't?"

Sokka shook his head, "Nope," he said, popping the 'p', "I mean, we still call people, of course, but there's also a this thing called texting, which is like sending a letter to someone, only instead of waiting weeks--or months--for your letter to get sent and then waiting even more for a response, the 'letter' or text gets sent and delivered in a manner of seconds and if the other person saw your message, then their reply should only take seconds to get sent back to you."

Sokka frowned slightly, "So it's actually more like sending a telegram to someone, except the telegram is sent with written words instead of Morse code."

Zuko nodded, his eyes wide with amazement, and Sokka might've thought that it was kind of cute.

"Can it do anything else?" He asked.

Sokka nodded, "It can do lots of things. You can read on it, watch videos--videos are kind of like a picture, except the picture is moving, it's more complicated than that. I can explain it to you in more detail later, if you'd like--if you need to know something or learn about something, say you have a question on genetics or something, instead of having to read through who knows how many books on genes before you find the right one, you can just search it up on this thing called the internet and you could either find the answer you're looking for right away or you can read through a few articles based on the subject you need to learn about.

You can also look for directions to places you need to go to on this thing called the GPS that can guide you and give you the directions to the place you need to go to. You can also play games on it and take pictures, and the pictures will be saved onto the phone and they'll be in color."

Zuko's eyes sparkled slightly, "In the future pictures are in color?"

"They sure are!"

Zuko looked back down, "And you can do all this in this small thing?"

"Yup."

"That's really fascinating. You should tell some of this to Teo, he's an inventor--or, his father was an inventor and he passed down the craft onto him. He'd really like to learn about techonlogies like in the future."

Sokka took his phone back and gently placed it down with the rest of his things, "I'm glad you think it is. I'd love to show you how it works and all, but I'm pretty sure it won't work here, considering this the past and it hasn't been invented yet and there aren't any cell towers on the sort. Hell, the phone barely works on the island in modern times. Anyways, we should start heading to the beach. Azula did say not to take too long and I'm kinda scared of her."

He turned back to Zuko who was giving him an affronted look, "What is it?" Sokka asked.

Zuko shook his head, "Nothing...it's just--" he sighed and cut himself off before shaking his head again, "Never mind, let's just go." 

He turned and walked out the door, Sokka following close behind wondering if he had done something wrong and messed up the fragile friendship they were developing.

* * *

The walk to the beach was lively. 

It turns out that the group of people going to the beach was bigger than Sokka thought it'd be.

There was Azula wearing a modest red bathing suit while carrying a ball under one of her arms. She was leading the group with a confident stride and all of the other people who lived in the town would shoot her a wary glance before going back to their tasks. Then there was Mai, wearing a black dress that was apparently supposed to be a bathing suit, which Sokka did not get. You were going to a beach, did you really need to wear what was practically a dress? Sokka was mostly shocked at the fact that Mai was going into the beach at all, considering she looked like the type who spent all of her time sitting in dark corners of creepy basements and attics. Holding Mai's hand, was Ty Lee wearing a white bathing suit, except the bathing suit had a skirt for the bottom instead of shorts like they did back in the future. 

Katara had borrowed one of Azula's bathing suits, that much was obvious, considering the bathing suit she was wearing was red and gold, and it seemed as if those were the only two colors that Azula bothered wearing. Next to Katara was Aang, who had changed out of his robes and into something more appropriate for the beach. The bathing suit Aang was wearing was similar to the ones Sokka and Zuko were wearing, except that Aang's was a cream color and it was decorated by red, blue, and green fishes. Trailing behind Aang and Katara was Toph, not wearing a bathing suit and instead just wearing high waisted brown pants with suspenders and a green shirt, she had a smug look on her face, although Sokka didn't know what she had done to warrant that.

Yue and Suki had also tagged along. Suki was wearing a dark green one piece and Yue was wearing nothing except for the sun hat that she had stolen from Suki. Behind them was Teo, who had also decided to come, and was still, for whatever reason, wearing the tuxedo he had on earlier. 

Sokka and Zuko were walking next to each other in the middle of the group. Holding on tightly to Zuko's hand was Kiyi in a navy blue children's swimsuit.

Hama had decided not to come, saying that she wasn't feeling up to it and that someone needed to keep Miss Ursa company back at the house.

They were all talking and egging each other on and Sokka watched as they interacted with a familiarity that could only come after having only a select group of people to keep you company for seventy years. 

Sokka had been a bit wary to go through the town after yesterday's--or today's--events but Zuko had assured him that since that happened yesterday, the bar people won't remember anything about their encounter because it technically never happened, in time travel terms.

The whole thing was kind of confusing, but Sokka understood the general idea behind time loops--something he and Yue still needed to talk about.

"So," Sokka began once there was a lull in the conversation, "If everything repeats everyday, you guys probably know a lot about what goes 'round the island, right?"

"Us?" Teo asked, limping forwards on his cane, "Nahhh, we just keep to our little house and drive each other crazy--we barely interact with the townspeople at all."

Azula hummed from up front, "The one and only time one of us interacted with one of the townspeople was when Zuko met that b—girl and fell hopelessly in love with them before realizing that they couldn't be together because the person would always forget their interactions after each day. It was quite funny." 

Zuko turned a nice shade of red, "That _did_ not happen," he said indigently and even Sokka, who had known him for barely a whole day, could tell that he was lying.

Mai made a noise up front and Sokka assumed that this was the closest he would ever get to hearing her laugh, "That did happen," she said in her monotone voice, only the barest hints of amusement underlying there, "and to be perfectly candid, it was the funniest thing that's happened here."

Toph began cackling as well, "It was even funnier when he insisted to try and pursue a relationship anyways before giving up after the fifth day."

Everyone laughed slightly at what must have been a very amusing memory and even Sokka chuckled a tiny bit just imaging the interactions Zuko must have had with this person.

After the laughter died down, Suki began speaking, "So, yeah, none of us know much about the townspeople, but Yue does," a proud smile over took Suki's face, "Yue knows everything there is to know about the townspeople and the island."

"It's true," Yue's voice ran out, the hat tilting slightly to the side and Sokka imagined that she was tilting her head as she began to excitedly explain everything, "In fact, I am in the process of a writing a journal about this island. The world's first complete account of one day in the life of a town, as experienced by everyone in it! I spent a whole three years on pigs alone!"

"Yup," Suki said, grabbing her hat back from Yue and placing it on her head, "I can attest to that."

"Three whole years?" Katara asked, "On just pigs? That couldn't have been much fun."

"Oh, but it was!" Aang exclaimed, jumping in on the conversation, "The pigs were so cute and snuggly!"

"Yeah," Yue sighed, "Aang is part of the reason why the pigs took so long, "Didn't matter how many times I explained to him that the subjects could not be interacted with, as it would disturb the authenticity of the whole thing, he still just wanted to snuggle and cuddle with them."

Aang let out an indigent squawk at that and everyone laughed again.

Sokka turned back to Yue, "So, you know pretty much everything about everyone who lives here?"

Sokka couldn't see her, obviously, but he imagined that Yue was nodding, "Every hour, every minute of every second I know about. Well, _almost_ every hour of every minute of every second, the journal is not done, and there are few more things that I haven't written down just yet, but it is nearly done."

Sokka nodded and turned his attention back to the front. 

"So, what else do you guys do around here?" Asked Katara, looking around with curiosity in her eyes.

"Mostly, we just get into trouble and wreak havoc," Zuko said, "But Miss Ursa said we weren't allowed to do that to the people anymore, so we've resorted to annoying and bothering ourselves."

Teo nodded, "It's gotten to the point where I've started to sleep with one eye open for fear of Kiyi breaking into my room just to bite my hand."

Kiyi shrugged, "You were asking for it."

Teo looked at her before shooting Zuko a glare, "You've taught her way too much."

Zuko smiled and shared a high five with Kiyi.

"Well," Azula said stretching slightly and putting an abrupt end to their conversation, "We're here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you've probably noticed, there is an addition to the series. I've written the Hama interlude and it is published and if you want to read that, be my guest, and if not, then don't, I don't mind. But if you do read it, then I hope you enjoy it, because I had fun writing it. And also, it took three days to write.


	14. Then Why Do I Thrill?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The obligatory beach episode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said that I was planning on updating on Monday, but as you can see, that did not happen. Truth was, I kept wanting to write this chapter, but I had to, you know, go to school and after school's done I had to, you know, complete my assignments for said school and after completing said assignments I got tired and went straight to bed and this has been my week so far. But, today one of my classes got cancelled, and it is a Friday, so I decided to finally do what I've been meaning to. I hope this chapter is enjoyable.
> 
> The title is a lyric taken from If I Didn't Care by The Ink Spots. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's left a kudos, a comment, or just simply bookmarked this, I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy the chapter

The beach was just as Gran-Gran had always described it. Golden sand, sunny skies, and sparkling ocean water with playful waves--not too harsh but not too calm, the perfect balance. Sokka had gone to the beach back on the Cairnholm of 2011, and it was not as nice as the beach from the past. Sokka couldn't imagine swimming in that murky water that looked like it was freezing at all times, or building sandcastles in the dirty sand. It was even impossible to go sunbathing because there was no sun, and Sokka was, once again, wondering how the island could have changed _this_ drastically and why? Was it the war? It had to had been the war, right? Or it did it start changing _after_ the war? So many questions, questions that didn't really need answering, but Sokka wanted them answered anyways.

At one end of the beach was a worn out looking volleyball net set up and there were multiple mismatched wooden beach chairs and umbrellas scattered around around the beach. It was entirely empty and Sokka found himself wondering why the locals never seemed to stop by such a perfectly good beach, but considering the war and all, maybe there was reason. 

Arriving at the beach, everyone immediately scattered around. Toph planted her feet in the sand, and began using her peculiarity to play with it, Aang joined her as well and the two started a sandcastle competition that Aang was just destined to lose. 

Teo sat down at one of the beach chairs, this one was an ugly mustard color with the paint chipping off. He gently laid his cane against his seat before leaning back and soaking in the sun's rays. Sokka wondered why he was still wearing a tuxedo when he was planning on sunbathing. Wasn't he going to melt in that?

Ty Lee dropped her pink beach towel down on the sand, quickly lying down in it to do some sunbathing as well, crossing one of her legs over the other and humming a little tune to a song that Sokka did not know, probably because it was so old. Mai dropped her own beach towel next to Ty Lee's, grabbing one of the beach umbrellas and moving it over to where their towels were, setting it up so that the shade hit only Mai's towel. After making sure her towel was perfectly covered from the sun, she laid down next to her friend.

Suki and Yue immediately dashed for the water, with Katara trailing behind them. Sokka noticed Aang watching the girls play in the water with a forlorn expression and immediately, Sokka felt bad for the kid. It was obvious that Aang wanted to swim and play in the water with them, but he couldn't because of his peculiarity. If he were to go into the water as is, his shoes would weigh him down and he'd drown, but if he were to take his shoes off, he'd fly away before he'd even reach the water. It was kind of a lose-lose situation, and really, the only thing that he could do was stay on the land. 

He turned back to Zuko and Azula, who were setting up in a spot underneath a red umbrella. There was only one chair, and that chair had been immediately claimed by Azula who shot Zuko a self-satisfied smirk. Zuko just sighed and set down his towel next to the chair, letting go of Kiyi's hand in the process. As soon as Kiyi was free, she ran forwards to where Aang and Toph were having their sandcastle competition and joined in, helping Aang with his.

Sokka, not knowing what to do exactly, made his way to the red umbrella and pushed Zuko a little so that there was room on the towel for the two of them. Sokka wasn't sure if their friendship was at that level where they could push each other and honest to God, insult each other and have everything be fine yet, but he didn't really care that much. He just hoped he wasn't infringing on any boundaries that Sokka was unaware of.

Zuko shot Sokka a glare before settling back down in the towel, slightly cramped now with the two of them attempting to share it.

"You know," he gritted out and gestured at the rest of the beach with his head, "There are other places where you can sit, at right? You do know that you don't have to steal _my_ beach towel?"

It sort of amazed Sokka how easily Zuko was able to flip-flop between awkward and endearing to grumpy and grouchy.

He made show of half-heartedly reaching for all the other towels and seats scattered across the beach, if only to get a rise out of Zuko, and said in that whiny tone that never failed to get on Katara's nerves, "I would but...they're all _so far_..."

Zuko scoffed and shook his head, turning to his sister instead. It looked like he was about to strike up a conversation with her, but Azula just glanced at him, then at Sokka before turning back to Zuko and then turning back to Sokka, but this time with a glare marring her features.

"I'm going to go see if I can cajole the girls into a friendly game of volleyball," she said in a smooth tone, and from what little Sokka already knew of her, he had a feeling that "friendly" was actually code for "very fucking aggressive." Azula looked over at Zuko and said, “You’re welcome to join us any time, Zuzu,” and very pointedly did not look at or mention Sokka and he was left to wonder for the second time that day if he had done anything wrong.

Azula then stood up and walked towards Ty Lee and Mai with determined, confident strides. She did everything with confidence, it seemed.

Despite the chair now being unoccupied, neither boy made to get up from the beach towel.

Zuko shot Sokka a wary glance, as if he was scared to talk to him all of the sudden, or as if he just didn't know what to say.

"So..." Sokka began, deciding to be brave and start the conversation. It kind of amazed him that they kept going back and forth between acting like good friends and not having a single clue as to what to say. Is this what Gran-Gran felt when she first met this group? He glanced over at where Katara was swimming and chatting with Suki and Yue. Then again, maybe not. 

He briefly noticed that Yue wasn't invisible when she was in the water, instead leaving behind an odd, moving hole in the shape of a person in the water.

"So!" He repeated, clapping his hands and turning back to Zuko, who jumped up in surprise, "Nice clouds, huh?"

Zuko looked at him in something akin to bewilderment and confusion, "Uhh...yeah? Fluffy."

Sokka cleared his throat slightly and looked around, "You know, in the modern world, the clouds aren't really all that fluffy anymore."

Zuko made a noise, "No kidding."

Sokka leaned back on his hands and racked his brain for anything else that they could take about, "So, you like swords?"

Zuko blinked at him before nodding. He didn't offer anything else up.

Sokka cleared his throat, "Do you know how to use them?"

Zuko nodded again, "I do. I had to learn them for the cir--" he cut himself off and glared at the sand for a minute before shaking his head and turning back to Sokka, "Yes. I know how wield my swords, I had to learn them, it was required."

Zuko smiled slightly, "I learned to really like using them, though. It was freeing, and it was nice to be able to be good at something for once. It also made me feel safer, knowing that I have other methods of defending myself that don't rely solely on my peculiarity."

Sokka frowned slightly, "Is that something you have to worry about often when you're peculiar?"

He thought back to what Gran-Gran and how she always warned them to stay away, and then of her last moments.

Zuko opened his mouth to say something, then he thought better of it and closed it. He looked up at the sky in contemplation, a slight frown on his face, as if having an argument with himself over something. Whatever it was, it seemed Zuko decided on whatever it is that needed deciding.

"...Yeah," he said eventually, "It's something you have to worry about. Normally, peculiars would rely on their peculiarity to defend themselves--if they can--but I'm not really that good at mine, so I have to rely on my swords instead."

Sokka thought back to the show earlier in that day.

"You seemed to be pretty good at that fire thing earlier," Sokka pointed out.

Zuko scowled at him, "Peculiarity," Zuko corrected, "not _fire thing_ ," he said the last part with such a scandalized tone about him that it was actually really funny.

Sokka rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, _peculiarity_ ," Sokka said in a mocking tone, "You seemed to be pretty good at that _peculiarity_ thing earlier."

Zuko scoffed and rolled his eyes, "I wasn't," he insisted, "I'm very bad at it; it's Azula who's 'pretty good at that peculiarity thing.' I mean, you saw the show."

Sokka frowned at him, "Exactly, I saw the show and I saw that you were damn good at it."

Zuko frowned right back, accompanied with a scandalized gasp, "But Azula--"

"Azula's good too," Sokka sighed, "I just think that you were also very good."

Zuko rolled his eyes, "Well, _I_ think you're a genius," he said in the way that one might throw an insult at someone else.

Sokka smiled brightly at him, "Thank you! Why, I think I'm a genius myself."

Zuko's smile slipped off his face, replaced by an adorably confused look, "I meant that as an insult."

Sokka's own smile was replaced by confusion, "How is that an insult?"

Zuko looked like he had some sort of retort at the edge of his tongue before shaking his head and saying something else instead.

"So, what about you?" He asked.

"What about me?" Sokka retorted, "Are you asking me if I'm good at the fire thing? Cause, I hate to break it to you, but I don't have the ability to make committing arson easier."

Zuko rolled his eyes, it was a thing he liked to do a lot it, "No, I meant if _you_ know how to sword fight?"

"Well, yeah, Gran-Gran taught me how to, back when she was healthier and more able," Sokka smiled at the memory, "Gran-Gran and I had a lot in common," Sokka explained, "But so did she and Katara, and most of the time that we spent together was shared with Katara--not that there was anything wrong with that, it's just that sometimes I just wanted to spend time with just the two of us. And, one day, when I was around the age of eleven, Gran-Gran started to teach me how to sword fight, and it was nice. It was just something for the two of us, so I associate that with her."

Zuko made a humming sound, "You know," he began hesitantly, "I was the one that taught Kanna how to sword fight." 

Sokka looked at him, "Really?"

Zuko hummed in confirmation, "I taught her after a skirmish with the people at the Singing Nomad. She sort of demanded I did."

"I guess things have come full circle, huh?"

Zuko just nodded. 

Sokka noticed some movement happening out of the corner of his eye near the volleyball net. When he turned around, he saw the girls by the volleyball net. Azula was giving everyone a calculated stare with a smirk on her lips, Mai and Ty Lee were standing on one side of the net, Mai with her arms crossed with a passive look at her opponents and Ty Lee with a slight smile and she was stretching her limbs in preparation. On the other side of the net was Suki with her hands on her hips, glaring right back at Azula, Yue standing slightly behind her, visible because of the footprints imprinted in the sand and the wet sand clinging to her lower legs, presumably. Katara was standing with Suki and Yue, looking slightly confused and hesitant.

Zuko followed his line of sight before chuckling slightly.

Sokka looked back at him, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, it's just...these games can get a bit intense.

Sokka looked back to where Suki and Azula were sizing each other up before turning back to Zuko, "I figured."

The girls were too far away, so Sokka couldn't hear what they were saying, but it seemed intense. 

He turned back to the sand castle competition and saw that Toph was definitely going to win, making a large, towering structure out of the sand as Aang and Kiyi tried to desperately keep up with her. At some point, Teo had joined Aang and Kiyi, and seemed as if they were doing better now with his help. Sokka thought he saw Teo draw blueprints in the sand, but he couldn't be too sure.

He turned back to Zuko, "Wanna go for a swim?"

Zuko's brows--or _brow_ \--furrowed before he gave a very hesitant nod. Sokka smiled brightly at him, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him towards the water.

"So, is this what you guys normally do during the day?" Sokka asked once they reached the water.

The water was the perfect temperature. It was cool, a nice escape from the blistering sun, but it was also warm enough that you didn't freeze alive while swimming in it. It was the ideal water that one would read about in books or novels, the type of water that you'd see in the television and would just imagine what it was like to swim there. Nothing but a nice reprieve. He couldn't even believe that Suki, Yue, and Katara gave this up in favor of a volleyball game, especially considering how Katara was always complaining about the water back home not being good enough for her and her magic water.

"What? Go to the beach?" Zuko asked.

The two of them were currently floating out in the water, so Sokka couldn't see much of the other boy, but his voice gave away everything he was feeling.

"Yeah," Sokka said, nodding to the best of his ability, not that Zuko would be able to see it, "I imagine it would be pretty relaxing and fun."

Zuko shrugged, "We go to the beach a lot," he said, "Not every day a lot, but enough that it gets kind of boring and tiring. There's only so much to do when you're repeating the same day over and over again, and at this point it feels as if we've tired out all of the possibilities, especially in an island as small as this." 

Sokka heard shouting from the distance, and if he tilted his head up he would be able to see the volleyball game becoming more intense by the second.

"It's relaxing," Zuko was saying, "But it's too relaxing."

Sokka understood what Zuko was trying to say, sure that if he had to repeat the same day over and over he would go insane and die of boredom. Life was mildly interesting because everything was unknown. No one could know for sure what would happen the next day, month, or year. No one could know for sure what would happen the next minute. You never knew who'd you meet, if you'd fall in love, if you won the lottery, if you got accepted into that college you really wanted to go to, you never even knew if you were going to live or not. But that was the joy of it, knowing that everyday would be different and because of it being different it was exciting and fun to live. He imagined that knowing everything and knowing that you would never die got boring after the first few years, maybe even the first few days.

"Can't you just leave?" Sokka asked, "If you really wanted to?"

Sokka saw Zuko stiffen up beside him and immediately knew that he had actually said something wrong this time.

"No," Zuko whispered harshly, glaring up at the sky, "I can't just leave."

He didn't say anything else to elaborate and Sokka didn't ask.

Back over at the beach, the volleyball net was currently on fire.

Sokka shot Zuko a concerned look. Zuko seemed to notice, but all he did was laugh and shrug at him and Sokka shot him an incredulous glance.

"Don't worry," Zuko said, "That happens all the time."

"What? The volleyball net getting set on _fire_?" 

"Yeah. Azula can get a bit out of hand sometimes."

"A _bit out of hand_? A _bit_?! You call _that_ getting a _bit_ out of hand?!"

"Yes."

Sokka shook his head, "And this happens all the time?"

Zuko nodded.

"How it the net still standing?"

Zuko gave him a look before scoffing slightly, "This is a time loop. Whatever we do to the town has no lasting consequence because as soon as Miss Ursa resets it, everything will go back to the way it was before and nobody, besides us of course, will have any recollection of it. Azula can set that net on fire as many times as she wants, as long as Miss Ursa resets the loop, it'll be fine."

"And she does this all the time?" Sokka repeated.

Zuko nodded, "She's very competitive."

"I can see that," Sokka said, turning to look back at the beach where Azula was yelling something loud enough that even Sokka was able to hear from here.

"You will never rise from the ashes of your pain and humiliation!" 

"Azula, you say this _every_ time," he heard Suki say, exasperation tinged in her voice. 

He turned back to Zuko.

"She does actually say that every time," Zuko confirmed.

Sokka rolled his eyes before remembering something Azula had said back in town.

"So," he began with a teasing lilt, "Is it true that you decided to try and have a relationship with one of the townspeople despite knowing that they will literally never remember your relationship?"

Zuko blushed and pointedly turned his head away, "Shut up," he grumbled, "I told you that didn't happen."

Sokka scoffed, "Right, and I'm the queen of England."

"I was being sarcastic," Sokka clarified at Zuko's confused expression, "So, can you tell me what happened?"

"Absolutely not," Zuko said, shaking his head, "It was a mortifying experience and I forever wish to purge it from my memories."

Sokka shoved him slightly, "Oh, come off it," he said, "Stop being so dramatic and tell me what happened; can't be much worse than my own love life."

Zuko's frown just deepened, "It's self-explanatory what happened," he said, "I fell in love and forgot about the whole time loop thing. And now that I think about, saying that I 'fell in love' is a hyperbole. I just met someone and like their company, that's it."

Sokka heard splashing from behind him and when he turned around he saw Katara standing next to a Yue shaped hole in the water.

Yue giggled, "Oh, please," she said, "You fell in love through and through, there's no denying that, Zuko."

"I didn't," Zuko insisted, his face turning even more red.

"Right," Yue said before turning back to Sokka, "Hi, Sokka," she greeted and Sokka waved at her casually before turning to Katara, who had started practicing her magic water.

"I see you're being very insistent on mastering the art of magic water, huh, Katara?"

"It's not magic water!" Katara snapped, "And Yue told me that I need to practice on my _peculiarity_ ," she said, emphasizing the word peculiarity as if that would get Sokka to stop calling it magic water, "because they're like muscles, and the more I exercise them, the better I'll get at it, but I don't the weaker it'll get, so I need to do it now."

"Yeah, but, you don't have to exercise it right _now_ ," Sokka pointed out.

Katara rolled her eyes, "Right now is the ideal time to practice my peculiarity," she gestured at the water around them, "I mean, look at this water! Look at how clear and perfect it is! All the water back at the island in 2011 is all murky and cold, I'm certainly not going to practice there, and I should probably practice while I'm around other peculiars before we go back home."

"You're going back home?" Zuko asked, "Forever?"

"Yeah," Sokka said, "What else would we do? We have parents and a life to get back to."

Zuko nodded stiffly, "Of course," he mumbled.

"We promise we'll write though," Katara exclaimed hastily, "You all seem really nice and it'd be a shame if we were to lose contact."

"Right," Yue responded, and even she sounded less cheery than she had a minute ago.

"Okay..." Katara said hesitantly, "Well, that's why I have to practice now."

"Luckily for me," Yue said, "I'm just invisible, so I don't have to exercise anything."

Zuko shot the empty space in the water a look, "Lucky you," he mumbled, shaking his head.

"So, you're just invisible all of the time?" Sokka asked, also looking at the empty space, "You can't turn it off?"

"No," Yue sighed, "But I like being invisible, so it's not a big deal."

Sokka nodded and thought about what'd be like to be invisible without ever being able to turn it off.

"Hey, Yue," Sokka asked with a slightly mischievous smile, giving Zuko a spare glance, "Care to tell me about what it is that happened with that girl that Zuko so hopelessly fell in love with?"

Zuko shot him a glare, but what else was new?

Yue giggled, "Of course."

* * *

After Yue had regaled Sokka with a thrilling and truly embarrassing story that made Zuko out to be the fool he was, with Zuko's very amusing embarrassment, the sun had began to set and everyone had grown tired enough to settle down at the beach while Azula and Zuko started a fire.

They were all having chatting idly, talking about nothing and everything at the same time. Sometimes the conversation would be about why vegetarianism was the best way to consume food, with varying levels of agreement. Other times the discussion would be about Azula's win at the volleyball game with Suki vowing vengeance next time they played. And eventually, the conversation reached to them talking about the future.

"So," Mai drawled, looking at the siblings, "What's the future like?"

Katara chuckled slightly, "You're going to have to be more specific than that."

Mai's eyes narrowed, "I mean what is technology like? Any big changes that would shock us to our core?"

"Telephones are very different," Zuko supplied, "They're smaller and you can do so much on them besides calling people. It's amazing. Sokka showed me his earleir."

Teo leaned forward, his eyes sparkling, "What other technologies are there?"

"There's televisions," Sokka said.

Azula rolled her eyes, "Televisions _already_ exist, dum-dum."

"Yeah, but they're bigger now," Sokka said, "And they're common house appliances, you don't really have to go to the theater to see a movie anymore, you can just watch them at home. And the movies are in color too--and they have sound."

"Movies already have sound," Azula said, not sounding very impressed.

"Yeah, but do they have color?"

Azula frowned at him before reluctantly shaking her head.

"There's also this thing called a computer," Katara said, "You can search up whatever you need on it, on this thing called the internet, and it'll give you the answer. And you can buy things using a computer too, so you don't have to go to the store. And you can play games, and you can also watch movies on the computer, and write things on documents too, like a typewriter, only better because you can erase if need be, and it's much faster to type that way, using this thing called a keyboard."

"The clocks are digitalized too," Sokka said, "So you don't need to learn how to read the time on a clock and all that, you can just look at your watch, or a digital clock, or your phone and it'll just tell it you all straight forward. I mean, you should probably still learn how to read a clock, but still."

"And our main form of travel is by air. You don't have to take the train if you're going across country or across the continent, you can just take a plane and it'll be easier."

"There's this thing called an air conditioner that keeps your house cool during the summer," Sokka said, noting the way Toph seemed to gain interest at that.

"And if it gets too cold, then you can just buy a space heater and it'll warm up your house!" Katara said excitedly.

And it went on like that, with Sokka and Katara going on and on about the future with the other kids listening with rapt attention, until it got late enough that Sokka and Katara had to start getting ready to go back home.

"I'll walk you back," Zuko offered, looking at Sokka. 

Sokka smiled at him, "Thanks, man."

"Ooh! Ooh!" Aang exclaimed, getting up as quickly as he could with those shoes of his weighing him down, "I'll walk you back too! That's fine, right Katara?"

"Right," Katara agreed softly, looking at him with a soft look.

Sokka shook his head and rolled his eyes. They were _so_ obvious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Genius--30s slang for someone who is unbelievably dumb, allegedly. I actually don't know how accurate that one is, but I thought it would lead to some amusing interactions.
> 
> The only sport that I play is baseball, and I don't even play that very well, so I'm sorry I didn't describe the volleyball game.
> 
> Update, 2/26/21 (26/2/21):  
> I was planning on waiting to finish writing this story before going back and editing everything, but the grammatical error I made in this chapter is so embarrassing, I had to fix the moment I saw when rereading this. I am very ashamed of myself.


	15. I’ve Lost All Ambition For Worldly Acclaim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka + Zuko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s the 15th chapter. This chapter took forever to write, not because I didn't want to write it, but because I kept getting interrupted.
> 
> We’re halfway through Act 2, and things are about to get more... intense? I think. Those who’ve read the book know. 
> 
> Title taken from the song I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire by the Ink Spots.
> 
> Anywho... thanks to everyone who read the last chapter and commented and left a kudos or bookmarked this, I greatly appreciate it. Enjoy the chapter <3

The four of them made their way back to the house, Sokka and Katara making sure to stop by there to change back into their old clothes. Katara and Aang were walking up front with Sokka and Zuko trailing behind them.

Aang was chattering to Katara about something or other, and Katara seemed to be trying her best to keep up with what he was saying. Aang suddenly broke away from the conversation, his attention having been stolen by something up in a tree. He rushed forward to the tree quickly, resembling an astronaut doing their best to walk on zero gravity, and once he reached the tree, he quickly bent down and began to take of his shoes.

Sokka saw Zuko's eyes widen, and he quickly ran forwards to Aang shouting, "Aang! What are you doing?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Katara and Sokka followed after the boys, Sokka with confusion and Katara with mild curiosity.

"It's alright, Sifu Hotman," Aang said, smiling widely.

_Sifu Hotman?_

"I'm just trying to get Katara this apple," he pointed up at a shiny, red apple hanging from one of the tree branches, "She deserves it," he turned back to Katara and shot her a bight smile, and Katara smiled back with a soft blush accompanying her cheeks. He then reached forward and finished taking off his shoes, floating away before Zuko could get a chance to stop him.

Zuko grit his teeth, "Aang," he hissed, glaring at the other boy as he floated up to the tree, grasping onto the tree branch to keep from flying away entirely. He grabbed the apple and carefully yanked it off from the tree, gently dropping it down onto the ground to be caught by Katara, who smiled at him again.

Aang looked around before chuckling slightly, sounding nervous as he did, "Can you help me get down now?"

Zuko groaned before stomping forwards to the tree and beginning to help Aang get down.

“This would be easier,” Zuko hissed, climbing up the bark, “If you just asked for my help instead of doing it yourself.”

Aang laughed again and shrugged, “I was trying to impress Katara,” he poked his head up at her and looked at her with a nervous expression, his cheeks pink, “Did it work?”

Katara smiled brightly at him, “Yeah, it did.”

Sokka made a face and rolled his eyes, “Oogies.”

Katara glared at him and elbowed his ribs, “Shut  _up_!”

Back at the tree, Zuko had successfully managed to get Aang down and was now in the process of helping him put his shoes back on without letting him go for fear of losing Aang to the great abyss.

As soon as Aang was grounded again, he rushed forward to Katara and grabbed her arm, pulling her forward back into to town.

Zuko continued glaring at the back of Aang's head and Sokka just shot him an amused glance.

Sokka saw Katara kiss Aang's cheek as they walked away and he found himself feeling conflicted as to whether or not to be protective of his sister or to be amused by their antics.

He decided that he could have a mixture of both.

He turned back to Zuko, "Today was fun," he stated.

Zuko glanced at him, the orange glow of the sun coloring everything in varying shades of yellow and orange, which made Zuko's hazel eyes look golden. A golden shade that kind of sort of reminded Sokka of Dr. Zhao's eyes, but he decided that Zuko's looked nicer.

Zuko shrugged and smiled slightly, this shy sort of smile that softened his normally intense features, "Yeah...it was nice."

Zuko frowned suddenly, as if remembering something particularly unpleasant, "Yeah," he repeated, sounding muchharsher this time, stomping away in the same direction that Aang and Katara had run off in.

Sokka sighed and followed him.

"Everything alright?" Sokka asked him.

"Yes," Zuko answered gruffly, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Sokka shrugged, "You seem angry."

"Well, I'm not."

"I had a great time today," Sokka said, "I think you guys are a cool bunch of people."

Zuko looked at him, "Cool? You think we're...cold?"

"No," Sokka sighed, remembering the previous day in which they had a similar conversation, "Cool...someone who's cool is, well, it's someone who's awesome, I guess. It's kind of hard to explain."

Zuko nodded, "Cool is a compliment?"

"Yes, cool is a compliment. Yesterday I was complimenting your fire, not saying that it was cold."

"So, if I wanted to compliment someone that I like, I would say that they're cool?"

"Yes."

Zuko had a pensive look pass over his face, "I see...um...Sokka, you're cool...?"

Sokka chuckled at the look of utter confusion Zuko had on as he tried to use modern slang.

"Thanks, Zuko, I think you're pretty swell."

Zuko faltered, "I--that's a compliment, right?"

"Yes," Sokka said, shaking his head, "Yes, that is also a compliment."

They had reached the house, Katara and Aang nowhere to be found, presumably having already gone inside.

Zuko turned to him, "What's your life like?" He asked, walking up the wooden steps.

Sokka followed and shrugged, "It's...nice," he decided on saying, "It's just your average, run of the mill life for someone who was born lucky."

Zuko hummed, swinging the door open, "My father always used to say that Azula was born lucky and that I was just lucky to be born."

Sokka faltered, frowning at his newfound friend, "Oh...well, my parents have never said anything of the sort to me—“ _Although sometimes it does feel that way_ “—just...I have a normal life. The most normal life that you can think off, that's the life I live—or well,  used to live."

The two walked up the stairs together.

Zuko chuckled, although he didn't sound as if he was laughing because he found something funny, rather, he sounded like he was chuckling just because he didn't know what else to say, "Surprisingly, life here is pretty boring and normal, if you look past all the abnormal things about us, it's just normal and boring. Miss Ursa would say that that's just the way we like it but..."

"It's tiring and exhausting?" Sokka guessed.

"Yeah," Zuko agreed, "Tiring and exhausting."

Sokka's life wasn't anything special. He didn't live in a time loop where everything repeated every day and time never passed, but sometimes that's just the way it felt. Tiring and exhausting. 

"I would have thought life in the modern world would be more interesting and fun," Zuko said.

Sokka shrugged, "And  I thought life in a small, magical island where the people can do magical things would be more interesting and fun. Guess it's true what they say, grass is always greener."

"It's just, in the modern world you have all these amazing technologies," Zuko began, "And everything's so different and fascinating. You people have things that I couldn't even imagine existing, and they're just common, normal things that everyone has. It's so...wild and indescribable."

Sokka hummed in acknowledgment, "I live in the 21st century, it's kind of mundane to me, the same way that it's mundane to you to live in this world."

They had reached the end of the hall with the empty room sitting across Jet's room. The two boys stood awkwardly out in the hall, looking at each other.

Sokka cleared his throat and gestured at the room behind him, "I'm going to go change now."

Zuko nodded and quickly turned his head away, "Of course."

They stared at each other for a second more before Sokka quickly rushed into the room and shut the door.

When he remerged into the hall, it was to see that Zuko was still there waiting out in the hall for him, only this time he had changed out of his swim clothes and into the clothes he had been wearing earlier.

Zuko looked up at him, "I wanted to say goodbye," he said.

Sokka's brow furrowed, "Already?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought you were going to walk me back?"

"Walk you back to the house," Zuko clarified, his own brow furrowing.

"I wanted you to walk me back, though."

"Why?"

"Because we're friends?"

"We are?"

"Well, I  thought we were friends," Sokka said, worried that he had misread every single one of their interactions.

"O—oh," Zuko said, his face turning slightly red, "But...that’s— I'm still confused as to why you want to walk me back? You know where the loop is now."

"It's getting dark out," Sokka pointed out, "Katara and I are going to need someone to help us guide us back...someone who has magic fire hands."

Zuko groaned, "Peculiarity," he corrected.

"Call it whatever you want, I'm still calling it whatever I want."

"Right," Zuko sighed in a melodramatic fashion, "Sure, I can walk you and your sister back."

Sokka smiled triumphantly at him and gestured down the hallway, "Well then, lead the way, _Zuzu_."

Zuko grumbled, "I'm going to kill Azula."

* * *

Sokka and Zuko found Katara and Aang waiting for them down the stairs. Aang was looking rather despondent. Apparently, it was his turn today to help Miss Ursa prepare dinner, so he couldn't walk Katara back to the loop like he wanted to.

"Bye, Katara," Aang said, walking towards the dining room, waving one of his hands.

"Bye, Aang," Katara called out, waving back, before turning back to look at her brother and her friend.

"So, you're walking us home again?" She asked, shooting Sokka a suspicious look.

"I am." Zuko confirmed, "Uh...follow me, I guess."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Sokka demanded, noticing Katara.

Katara just shrugged in faux innocence, "Looking at you like what?"

Sokka narrowed his eyes at her before following Zuko, Katara trailing behind him.

The walk back to the loop was similar to the one from yesterday, with Sokka and Zuko attempting small talk to varying levels of success with Katara chiming in every once in a while.

Through said small talk, Sokka was able to find out that Zuko was a huge theater nerd. Well, Sokka could already guess that Zuko was a huge theater nerd just from looking at his bedroom, but this talk just confirmed it. Zuko was currently going on about the themes present in Othello, a Shakespeare play that Sokka was unaware existed, with Sokka listening intently to his every word, even though he didn't understand half of what he was saying.

They had reached the Cave of Two Lovers, and Katara immediately rushed inside, only sparing a small, "Goodbye Zuko," before disappearing back into the 21st century.

Sokka stayed behind and shot Zuko an expectant stare, "Well..."

Zuko's one and only eyebrow raised, "Well, what?"

"I was hoping you would walk me to the other side?"

"Why?" Zuko asked, befuddled, "Don't you already know how to guide yourself back in the modern world?"

"Yeah but...it's going to be all dark and foggy and really hard to see," Sokka complained, "It'd be  _really_ helpful to have someone who conveniently has magic fire hands there with me."

Zuko tensed slightly, "I don't know, Sokka..."

"Come on," Sokka pleaded, "Come with me to the other side—just for a minute."

"I really shouldn't," Zuko sighed, rubbing his arms, "I should head back before the Miss suspects us of something."

Sokka smirked slightly, "Suspect us of what?"

Zuko smiled wryly, " _Well_..."

" _Something_?" Sokka supplied.

"Something," Zuko agreed, "She's always on the look out for  something ."

"Well then, you could just come visit us tomorrow," Sokka said instead, "Miss Ursa will have no idea about what you're doing over there, because she'll be busy taking care of all the other children. We could do whatever we wanted! I could show you around the island, you could meet my parents—I think they'd really like you, you know—and I can show how badly the island has diminished."

"Sokka," Zuko sighed, "We're not allowed to go to the other side."

Sokka frowned, "But Azula and Hama..."

"Were sent there by Miss Ursa herself to fetch the two of you, but otherwise, we're not really allowed to go to the other side, and if we are, it's only for a few minutes."

"Then come with me for two minutes and then lie to her about it!" Sokka insisted. Even he didn't know why he wanted Zuko to come with him to the other side so badly, but he did.

"I want to," Zuko moaned, "I really do, but I can't. It's a bad idea."

"Boy, Ursa's got you on a short leash, huh?" Sokka asked, running a hand through his mussed up hair.

Zuko tensed and glared at him, " _Miss_ Ursa," he spit out harshly, "and I don't appreciate being compared to a dog. Brilliant comparison, by the way, very flattering!"

"I didn't mean it like that," Sokka said apologetically, "I'm sorry."

"It's not that I wouldn't want to," Zuko amended, "I just can't.

Sokka huffed and looked around in frustration.

"Look just—a minute, only for a minute. You don't have to go far, you can just hover around the cave or something. Just for a minute,  _please_."

"What could we even do in a minute?" Zuko asked, crossing his arms again.

Sokka smirked slightly, "I have a few ideas," he said.

Zuko scoffed, "Like what?" He demanded.

"You'd be surprised," Sokka said.

Zuko pushed him slightly, "Tell me!" He demanded, laughing slightly.

Sokka laughed too, "What? And ruin the surprise?" He echoed in between chuckles and giggles.

Zuko groaned rather dramatically, "Using my own words against me? Really?"

"That's the rule of court," Sokka said, smiling widely, "anything you say can and will be used against you." 

"Can you just tell me," Zuko sighed, resigned.

"I'm going to take your picture, of course!" Sokka said, excitedly gesturing at his pocket where his phone was.

He had expected Zuko to get excited at the prospect of having his picture taken through the use of a 'portable telephone.' Zuko didn't get excited, instead, he tensed and shrank in on himself, looking even more self-conscious than before.

"I don't know, Sokka," Zuko lamented, "I'm not exactly the most fetching person and...I don't really photograph well," he gestured at his scar.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Sokka cried, "Dude, you are  _so_ fetching, it's not even funny! And you don't photograph well?  _Please_ , have you seen a picture of yourself?"

Zuko frowned at him, "Are you pulling my leg?"

"What? No! I'm being about as sincere as I can be. Come on, it's just for a minute."

Zuko looked conflicted before heaving out a sigh of resignation, "Alright," he relented, "Only a minute, though."

"Only a minute," Sokka agreed easily, before gesturing at the loop.

Sokka let Zuko go in first, because Sokka was a gentlemen like that.

When they emerged on the other side, it was to be met with a thick fog that made everything near impossible to see, chilly weather, and a dark sky.

Zuko looked around in shock before shivering.

"Are you cold?" Sokka teased.

"No." Zuko grit out.

"Are you sure."

"Yes. I am sure."

"Well, if you insist, but I can always just—“

"Sokka, will you just take the picture already?"

Sokka laughed and reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone, "I'm going, I'm going, calm down, you jerk."

Zuko just huffed and huddled into himself, probably trying help himself get warmer.

Sokka quickly reached forward and draped an arm around Zuko's shoulders, pulling Zuko into Sokka. Sokka quickly turned his phone on and opened the camera and snapped a quick selfie of the two of them.

The resulting photo was of Sokka grinning brightly to the camera with Zuko looking at it with a mixture of confusion and annoyance, two of Zuko's most common emotions.

Sokka grinned at the photo before showing it to Zuko, "Look at us!" He said excitedly, "Look at how annoyed you look, it's great!" 

Zuko, in true Zuko fashion, scoffed and rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was that he had been about to say had been cut off by the camera flash going off in Sokka's phone.

Zuko glared at him, "Really?" 

Sokka smiled and angled his phone to take a few more pictures, but Zuko dodged out of the way before he could. Sokka, not one to give up, just chased Zuko around the small clearing, careful not to stray too far into the bog, and just laughing as he did. Eventually, Zuko too began to laugh, and before they knew it, they were playing a weird game of tag that neither boy knew the rules to. They chased each other, and pushed each other, and at one point Zuko tried to trip Sokka so that he'd fall into a puddle of mud. By the time they'd finished, three minutes had passed, both boys were breathless with reddened faces—a mixture of exposure to the cold and exercise—and Sokka had taken so many pictures of Zuko, his phone was nearly out of storage, but Sokka found that he didn't mind.

Zuko let out on last giddy laugh before running to the mouth of the cave. He turned around and waved goodbye at Sokka, "See you tomorrow, future boy," he called out.

"See you tomorrow, fire boy," Sokka called back, saluting him with two fingers.

He thought he saw the barest hint of a smile pass over Zuko's face, but he had disappeared into the cave less than a second later and Sokka wasn't too sure anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	16. Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Sokka get back to the island to find some unnerving news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I would like to thank everyone who’s read this story and left a kudos because Jesus Christ, this story reached a hundred, something that I didn’t think would happen. I honestly did not expect this story to get as big as it has, and I thank you all for that. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter <3

Sokka skipped back into the forest, grinning like a fool. He ran into Katara, who had been waiting for him at the edge of the forest, right on the outskirts of the town.

She turned to him with a wry smile that set Sokka's nerves alight.

"Sooo," she began with a teasing lilt, "What took you so long?"

Sokka shrugged dismissively and walked right passed her, "I was saying goodbye to Zuko."

"Oh, _were_ you now?"

"Yeah? What's with that tone?"

"What? I can't question my brother for taking way too long to just 'say goodbye' to someone? Especially if the someone in question so happens to be a cute boy?"

Sokka stopped right in his tracks and glared out at the town before turning back to Katara, "So, you think Zuko's cute then? Best hope Aang doesn't find out about that."

Katara frowned at him and made a face, "What are you implying?" 

"Same thing you're implying."

Katara sniffed, "I don't like your tone," she said haughtily.

"Well, _I_ don't like _your_ tone."

"I'm confused, are you implying that I have a crush on Zuko or that I have a crush on Aang. You have to be clearer about that."

"Aang, _obviously_."

"Why obviously?" Katara asked, "Is it obvious because Zuko's already taken? By _you_?"

"What?! _No_!" 

Sokka felt his cheeks heat up slightly as Katara started cackling.

"Yeah, okay," she said, "Like I believe that."

Sokka grumbled in annoyance as they continued their walk back to town, "So, I take this as you confirming that you're into Aang?"

Katara shot him Glare One. 

"No." 

Sokka scoffed, "Okay, as if I believe _that_. You clearly don't have a crush on him, that's why said you were impressed when he got that apple for you and why you kissed his cheek in gratitude after he gave it to you. You know, normal friend things."

Katara's glare hardened as she shoved her hands into her pockets, "Shut it," she hissed.

Sokka smiled at her his most annoying smile as he prepared to taunt her about her obvious crush on hyperactive balloon boy when Katara let out a noise of disgust as she quickly removed her hand from her pocket.

"What is it?" Sokka asked, concerned.

"The apple," Katara said, glaring at her jacket, "I think it's rotten."

"What?" Sokka asked, "Already? It looked fresh when Aang picked it."

He saw Katara's face pale, "Dear God," she whispered, "It's aged seventy years."

Sokka looked at her in confusion, "Huh?"

"The apple," Katara repeated, as if that cleared anything up, "It was from 1940," she clarified, "So, when I traveled back to now, the apple must have aged seventy years!"

Sokka frowned in confusion, "But that doesn't make any sense. Zuko came back with me to the modern era and _he_ didn't age seventy years, he was still just...however old he technically is. Sixteen, I think? He looks sixteen, don't you agree?"

Katara ignored the last half of what Sokka had said, "Maybe, Zuko didn't age forward because...he's continuously living in the loop or something? I mean, when Miss Ursa resets it, there'll be another apple in the exact spot this one was, but there won't be another Zuko, just the one, so going into our time doesn't affect him like it did the apple?" 

Sokka glared at the ground as he thought through what Katara had said, "Maybe," he said, although he wasn't too sure about what the correct answer was either.

"Sokka! Katara!" 

Katara and Sokka turned to see their mother approaching them, running from out of the town and frantically waving her hands. She was wearing a raincoat and her frantic footsteps were thundering and echoing throughout the mostly empty road.

"I've been looking for the two of you," she cried, not even stopping for breath, "We have to get back to town immediately." 

"You said to get back by dinner," Sokka said frantically, "And I do believe we're early."

"Forget dinner," Kya exclaimed, both shocking Sokka at the fact that his mother, who always reminded the two of them to never skip a meal, was now telling them to forget the last meal of the day, and offending him at the prospect of actually skipping the best part of the day, "Come with me."

"What happened?" Katara asked with worry, "Did something happen while we were gone?"

"I'll explain on the way," Kya answered, marching back into town with her two children in tow.

As they walked back into town, Kya was able to get a better look at her children, "What happened to the two of you?" She demanded in that motherly tone, "Why are you guys damp? Have you been swimming? In _this_ weather? At least you've got your clothes back."

"Mom, what's happening?" Sokka asked, "Did someone die or something?"

"No," Kya sighed, "Well--kind of. Some sheep died."

"What does that have to do with me and Katara?"

"The sheep were slaughtered," Kya explained, "They think it was the kids who did it--like as an act of vandalism."

"Who's they? The sheep police?"

Sokka ignored Katara's pointed stare as she elbowed him in the ribs for his truly amazing joke. 

Kya chuckled slightly, "The farmers," she clarified, "They've already interrogated everyone under the age of twenty and, naturally, they're interested in the two of you--considering that you've been gone all day."

Sokka's stomach sank and he exchanged a worried look with Katara. They'd been gone all day, hanging out with magical children back in the forties, and it's not as if they had a foolproof cover story for that and now they were about to be interrogated by crazy farmers because someone murdered a bunch of sheep.

They had reached the outside of The Singing Nomad, wherein a small-crowd was gathered around a group of very crazy-pissed-off-looking farmers. One of them that stood out was an old man that looked as if he wasn't all there. He was wearing red overalls and an old, worn out Chinese hat, he was leaning against an honest to God pitchfork and he was holding onto a scared looking Hide. 

The senile looking man turned to and pointed at Sokka and Katara, "There they are!" He cried out in a stereotypical hillbilly voice, "Where you been off to, child'en, eh?" 

Hakoda, who had emerged from the crowd once he'd spotted his wife and children, patted Sokka on the back in encouragement, "Tell them," he said.

Sokka chuckled awkwardly as he turned to face the group of crazy farmers.

Katara shot him a glare before turning back to the farmers, "My brother and I were exploring the house on the other side of the island," she said in an assertive tone that left no room for questions.

" _What_ house?" One of the other farmers demanded, he was covered in mud and was missing a tooth.

Katara scoffed, as if she couldn't believe what was being asked of her, "What other house? The one on the other side of the island that got bombed in 1940."

"Why would you go 'ere?" The same farmer asked, scowling and showing off his remaining teeth that were stained yellow.

"Our grandmother," Katara explained, "She died recently, and my brother's therapist recommended he go here and visit her old house as a way to cope."

The first farmer squinted at them, "And you were there with who?"

Katara scoffed again, "With my brother, I _just_ told you."

"Bollocks!" Exclaimed a third farmer with a scraggly beard, "I think you was with this one," he gestured at Hide.

"I never killed any sheep!" cried Hide.

"Shuddup!" The third farmer roared.

"Sokka, Katara? What about your friends?" Kya said.

"They weren't with us," Sokka answered, "They were--um...busy! They were busy with chores and stuff."

Kya frowned at them, "So you were hanging out in that old house all day by yourselves?" 

"I mean...we had a each other?"

"Well I think yer lying!" The second farmer spat, "Why, I oughta belt ya right here in fronta God and everybody."

_Okay, so the townspeople were always crazy and unhinged, that's good to know._

Katara glared at the farmed and Kya stood protectively in front of her kids, her face distorted with a fury that Sokka didn't get to see very often. The face of anger that a mother only makes when she's trying to protect her kids from crazy, entitled people, such as the farmers. 

"You stay away from them," Kya hissed in the protective motherly tone, glaring holes into the farmer. If looks could kill, he'd already be six feet under the ground.

The second farmer, the one with missing teeth, stepped forward and glared at her. Hakoda stepped forward as well and squared off. Nobody was able to throw a punch because they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Now, now," Professor Zei said, emerging from the crowd, his hands in a placating gesture, "I think we can all agree that fighting is unnecessary, right, Yon Rha? We can get this sorted rather quickly. I think we can all agree that the children being at the house is true, isn't that correct? After all, just yesterday they came to me asking about that house and the people who used to live there. And I'm assuming that them being sent here by their therapist is true?" The last part had been directed at Kya and Hakoda.

Hakoda nodded, "Yes, that is correct."

Professor Zei nodded, "See? I think that confirms it."

"You think I buy what this man's telling me, Zei? He's their father, 'course he's gotta tell us what his kids' said!"

Hakoda narrowed his eyes at Yon Rha, "Are you calling me a liar?"

Before Yon Rha could respond, Hide interjected.

"See?" He said, desperation ringing in his voice as he pointed right at Sokka, " Kid needs a therapist--he's a bloody psycho is what he is, it _had_ to have been him--him and his crazy sister!"

"I never touched them," Sokka defended while Katara levelled Hide with Glare Two. 

"Hide," The stern woman from the Fish Mongrel hissed, levelling him with her own glare, this one vastly more intense and scary than Katara's.

"If it weren't the Americans," The first farmer, who had been holding onto Hide, said, giving Hide's shirt a forceful wrench, "This one 'e're, then. He's gotta history. Few years back I watched 'im kick a lamb down a cliff. Wouldn' of believed it if I 'adn't seen it wi' me own eyes. After he done it I ask 'im why. Said it was to see if it could fly. He's a sickie, alright."

Sokka watched as the woman from the Fish Mongrel's face grew more despondent upon hearing what the farmer had said.

Everyone else in the crowd muttered with varying degrees of disgust, some shooting Hide worried glares, others disapproving, and others downright disgusted and horrified. Hide looked uncomfortable and embarrassed, but he didn't dispute the story.

"What about a wolf?" Kya offered, giving Hide a look in between worried for him and worried about him, "Or a wild dog? My mother-in-law was killed by a wolf."

"The only dogs on this island are sheep dogs," the Third Farmer responded, "And it ain't in their nature to kill."

"How many sheep were there?" Kya asked, possibly invested in solving this mystery and proving Hide's innocence. 

"Five," replied a fourth farmer. He was stout, with only a few strands of hair left on his mostly bald head, and he had been glaring at everyone and everything. He hadn't spoken at all until just then, "All mine, killed right in their pen. Poor things never even had a chance to run."

"Five sheep," Kya hummed, "How much blood do you think is in five sheep?"

"A tubful, probably," The First Farmer said.

"Right," Kya sighed, "and don't you think that whoever killed those poor sheep would be covered in their blood then? And don't you think that someone--anyone--in this small island would have noticed the culprit walking into town covered in blood? _Especially_ if the culprit was a foreigner." 

_Couldn't you have done this before we were questioned like that?_

The farmers looked at one another, then at Sokka, then at Katara, then Hide, before looking back at each other and shrugging.

"It coulda been foxes--a whole pack of them," said the Third farmer.

"If the island's even got that many," the First one scoffed.

"The cuts are too clean," sighed Yon Rha, "Had to have been done with a knife."

"I just don't believe it," Kya said, glaring at Yon Rha.

"Then come see for yourself," Yon Rha said, glaring back.

The crowd began to disperse then and the remaining few followed the farmers back to the scene of the crime. The trudged over a low rise and through a nearby field, to a little brown shed with a rectangular animal pen beyond it. The group approached it and tentatively peeked through the fence slats.

Sokka's face twisted in disgust as he took in the scene before him.

The brittle grass was colored red, bathed in blood. The weathered posts of the pen that were once brown were now red, and the white, lifeless bodies of the sheep were covered in their own blood, flung about in attitudes of sheepish agony. One had tried to climb the fence and got its spindly leg caught between the slats. It hung before Sokka at an odd angle, its body cut open from throat to crotch, as if it had been unzipped.

Sokka quickly turned away, in an attempt to not provoke more trauma to his already damaged psyche from what had happened to Kanna. Beside him, both Kya and Katara let out horrified gasps and Hakoda made a noise of disgust.

Someone in the group let out a low-whistle, someone else burst into tears. Someone screamed and someone gagged. Everyone was horrified at what lay in front of them. 

Hide gagged and burst into tears, something that was considered by the farmers as an admission of guilt; the killer who couldn't face his own crime. Hide was quickly led away by the farmers, to be locked in Professor Zei's museum as a makeshift holding cell, until he could be shipped back to the mainland to be arrested.

Sokka watched him go with pity and he couldn’t shake the feeling off that Hide was actually innocent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact: I legitimately searched up "seventy-year-old apple" so that I could have a reference as to what Aang's apple would be like after aging forward seventy years. Unsurprisingly, what I was looking for did not come up.
> 
> I hope I didn't offend any farmers in this chapter, I love you guys. These ones just happen to be crazy. But seriously, I respect farmers. I mean, where would we be in a society without farming? Did we not become civilized through the use of farming? Where do our fruits and vegetables come from if not from farmers? Farmers rule. This is a farmer safe zone. If you are a farmer, then I love you.


	17. Illusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka and Katara get scolded by The Bird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really late, sorry :/ I told myself I was going to write this yesterday and I didn't and then it took me like ten hours to actually start to writing it. The brain works in such fun ways. 
> 
> Only ten more chapters of this tom foolery. Allegedly. I'm actually considering upping the chapter count, because I have a feeling that the shenanigans that are about to go down might need more chapters, but I'm not sure yet. We'll see. All I'm saying is to not be surprised if this story gets five or six more chapters. And there will probably be an update tomorrow, and there'll probably be an update Tuesday, so that's fun. 
> 
> But I wrote it, and it's here and thanks to everyone who's commented or left a kudos or a bookmark and whatnot. Enjoy the chapter

The walk back to The Singing Nomad was tense. Sokka was glaring at the ground and Katara was glaring straight ahead. Hakoda walked ahead of them, a stony expression on his face, Kya walked next to him with a matching expression. Everyone's minds were reeling with what they had just witnessed.

When they got to the bar, things were different. Unlike the last few days, the bar wasn't alive with songs and dancing and general cheeriness, instead it had taken a far more gloomy and serious tone that reminded Sokka of what the bar had once been in the past, and he found himself lamenting for the whimsical, confusing songs they had once played.

As the family made their way across the bar and up the stairs, Chong solemnly nodded at them and Lily gave them a pained look of pity, both of them having been first-hand witnesses to the absurdity that had taken place outside just moments ago. 

When they reached the room, Kya and Hakoda exchanged an intense look before turning back to the kids.

"Wait out in the hall, please," Kya began, "your father and I have something we need to discuss." 

Sokka and Katara exchanged a look themselves. 

Eventually, Sokka just shrugged in response before sliding down onto the floor, Katara following suit after having a small stare down with her dad.

The door slammed shut and Sokka and Katara looked at each other.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Asked Katara, tilting her head up and looking at the ceiling. 

Sokka shrugged, "The sheep."

Katara twirled a strand of hair between her fingers in thought, "That was...horrifying," she settled on.

"It was." Sokka agreed. 

He decided to take out his phone and scroll through the pictures he had taken of Zuko earlier that day before everything went insane in order to take his mind off of the sheep...and of Gran-Gran's last moment. Those particular memories that he had tried so hard to lock away and not think about again unless it was a nightmare or to decode her last words were threatening to burst through the very thin wall of defense Sokka had built in his brain. 

As it turned out, looking at the pictures didn't do him much good. 

They made him feel...odd. It made him happy to look back at Zuko's scowling face as Sokka tried to push him down into a particularly large puddle of mud in retaliation for what Zuko had done earlier, it made him feel calm to look at those pictures, but at the same time, it made him feel sad. There was something in the back of his mind that was preventing him from feeling complete, unadulterated happiness while looking at those pictures, but he didn't know what. It wasn't just the sheep, and it wasn't just Gran-Gran either, it was something else too. But he didn't know what. 

Katara looked over his shoulder before giving Sokka a concerned look.

"Sokka," she began in a wary tone, as if she knew that whatever it was that she was going to say would hurt or anger Sokka in some way, but she knew that it still needed to be said anyways, "you know...you know that we're going to have to leave eventually...right?"

Sokka inhaled a sharp breath.

That was what.

Sokka wanted to say many things to her.

He wanted to shoot the question back at her, throw it back in her face and remind her that soon she'd be leaving Aang, and Yue, and Suki, and her peculiarity behind. 

He wanted to shout, yell that _of course_ he knew. How could he _not_ know? It was the very thing he was worried about in the beginning, that Katara would forget that herself and then later just choose to not leave and Sokka would be forced to return home having lost another family member. And now, he found himself slightly worried about doing exactly what Gran-Gran had done. Leave. Enter the lives of these kind strangers, befriend them and then just _leave_. 

But Sokka wanted to leave, because he had a life and a family and he couldn't give that up for a group of people he had only known for two days. It's not as if he belongs there anyways. But, part of him wanted to stay. A part of Sokka wanted to stay, and that scared him too.

There was the faint sound of his parents' voices having a heated discussion about something or other.

"I know," he breathed eventually, glaring back at his phone with sudden vigor, "I know."

"I don't want to leave either," Katara admitted softly, "but we have to, don't we?"

It was phrased as a question, but it wasn't a question.

"I know." Sokka said again.

The door open, and Kya and Hakoda emerged with significant looks on their faces. 

Without much prompting, Sokka and Katara got up from the floor and followed their parents back into their room.

Once the door closed, Kya turned back to her children, "Pack your bags," she said softly, "we're leaving the island."

The siblings erupted at once.

" _What_?!" Sokka yelled, gaping at his parents.

"You can't be serious!" Katara cried.

Hakoda just sighed and sunk down on the bed, "We are."

"But--"

"It's too dangerous," he explained, cutting Katara off, "you saw what happened to those sheep. You saw how those farmers got. We can't stay here any longer." 

"But--they caught the guy!" Sokka said desperately.

"You know as well as I do that a fourteen-year-old child couldn't have possibly done something as horrific as that," said Kya.

"It happened to sheep," Katara pointed out, "it's not as if it happened to a human person!"

"In cases like this," Hakoda said, pausing to heave out a big, tired sigh, "they almost always upgrade to a person, and we want to leave before the culprit has the chance to do that."

"We're taking the first boat off the island, this isn't up for negotiation." Said Kya, "I'm sorry, but this is for our safety--we can't risk to lose another member of this family like that."

"What about our friends?" Sokka asked weakly.

Kya gave him a sad look, "You can always write to them."

They spent the rest of that night packing up their belongings, the air around the family even more tense than it had been before. 

That night, after they had retired to bed, Sokka spent it looking up at the celling and thinking. 

He felt conflicted.

He had always known that he and Katara would have to leave eventually, but he'd always thought he'd have more time.

* * *

The next day, Sokka had woken up at around noon.

The room was devoid of any family members, and Sokka was a bit shocked, having expected to be woken up at the crack of dawn and be dragged to the docks and shoved onto a boat right away, right along with Hide who was supposed to be shipped off to the mainland.

When he emerged from upstairs into the bar, it was to see his parents and Katara sitting at a table, eating lunch. 

Things at the bar were better than they had been last night, less gloomy.

Lily was wiping down on the empty tables, humming a jaunty tune and Chong was manning the bar, as usual, and whistling cheerfully. It seemed that they had recovered from yesterday's incident rather quickly, but there were still hints of worriment behind their merriment. 

There were other patrons and customers milling around the place, some with drinks, others eating food, some with nothing at all. They were gossiping about the events that had taken place yesterday, and Sokka suspected that what went down yesterday was probably the biggest thing to happen to this island since the bombing back in 1940, and so naturally, everyone was talking about it.

Sokka quickly made his way to the table his family was sat and took his seat next to his sister.

He took in the frustrated expressions on his parents' faces and the subtle gleefulness in Katara's. 

"What happened?" Sokka asked, looking at Katara.

"That happened," she answered, pointing at a man sitting at a table in a shady, isolated corner of the room.

The man had a decently sized body type. It wasn't as big as the people of The Singing Nomad who lived in the forties, but it he wasn't lanky like Sokka was. Sokka thought he might've had some muscles, but he couldn't be too sure because there was large coat covering most of his body and part of his face due to the collar. He was wearing a black brimmed hat and some thick sunglasses covered his eyes. 

He looked familiar, but Sokka wasn't sure where it was that he had seen him before.

Sokka turned back to Katara, confusion planted on his face, "I don't get it."

"He arrived just this morning," Hakoda said gruffly, "and now, because of that, the boat was damaged, and it's getting fixed until further notice; we won't be getting off the island for a while." 

"How'd the boat damage?" Sokka asked curiously, glancing back at the man.

"One of the rudders broke." Kya explained, "It happened when the boat docked, and nobody knows how it did."

"Huh. Weird. Don't they have anymore boats?"

"Apparently, they do not."

Lily then approached their table and asked what Sokka was going to have for lunch and they spent the next hour or so eating food in relative silence. 

When they finished eating, Katara quickly stood up, "Sokka and I are going to the other side of the island to spend some time with our new friends."

Hakoda sighed, as if he knew this was going to happen before nodding reluctantly, "Very well."

"Stay safe," Kya said sternly, "and be back before dark."

Katara nodded, "We will, don't worry."

And with that, she gripped Sokka's arm and pulled him up from his seat before dragging him out of the bar/hotel.

* * *

Sokka was slightly disappointed when he and Katara emerged from the other side to find that there were no grouchy boys with scars and nice eyes and muscles waiting for him on the other side. 

In fact, there was no one waiting for them on the other side, which was disappointing, but understandable. He supposed that their newfound friends had better things to do than just stand around and wait for them all day outside the cave.

They marched to the house in a sort of peaceful silence and Sokka was glad that he and Katara weren't in present day Cairnholm anymore.

Eventually they reached the house and Sokka was looking forward to spending time with Zuko and Yue and Suki again, but before he could set off to look for any of them he and Katara were accosted at the front door by none other than Miss Ursa. 

She was looking rather stressed and she had a tight smile on her face.

"A word, Mr. Sanuik, Miss Sanuik," she said simply, addressing Sokka and Katara individually before marching off back into the house, obviously assuming that Sokka and Katara would be right on her trail.

They followed Miss Ursa into the house and they passed by the living room and the dining room, both rooms occupied by children. Sokka noticed Teo lounging around the living room in a comfy arm chair, reading a book with his feet propped up against the coffee table. Hama was sitting across from him, reading her own books as well and gingerly sipping on what looked like to be tea.

In the dining room, Mai and Ty Lee were sitting next each other, occupying two of the chairs at the large, wooden dining table, whispering and giggling to each other.

Mai's dark eyes bore into Sokka as they passed by and Ty Lee simply wave enthusiastically at them, Sokka found himself waving back.

They were lead into the privacy of an empty kitchen.

It kind of felt like being sent to the principal's office.

Miss Ursa propped herself up against a counter and shot Katara and Sokka a meaningful glance with a pleasant smile on her face.

"Are you enjoying yourselves," she asked kindly.

Katara answered for the both of them, "We are," she said pleasantly, "very much."

Miss Ursa nodded, "That's wonderful," she said. Her smile vanished as quickly as it had come and she grew serious again, "I understand you had a pleasant outing with most of my wards yesterday; and a wonderful discussion as well."

Sokka nodded, "We did. They were all very nice." 

Miss Ursa nodded again, clearly gearing up for a lecture. 

"Would you mind telling me what the nature of the discussion was?"

"Well, we mostly talked about where Katara and I from and what it's like. How we live and what types of technologies we have--that sort of stuff."

"Where you're from." Miss Ursa repeated.

Sokka nodded, "Right."

"And, do you think it's wise to discuss events and things of the future with children from the past?"

"Children?" Katara asked, scoffing slightly, "Is that how you think of them?"

Sokka winced sligtly, noting the look on Miss Ursa's face.

She gave Katara a stern, disappointed look before collecting her features, "It is how they regard themselves," she said testily, "how else do you want for me to refer to them as? How would _you_ refer to them?" 

She seemed to take Katara's silence as a confirmation of her agreement with regarding to Miss Ursa's wards as children, given the self-satisfied nod she gave.

"As I was saying, do you think it's wise to discuss the future with children from the past?"

"No?" Sokka answered, slightly scared of the stern side of this woman who seems as if she wouldn't raise her voice even if you paid her to.

"No," Miss Ursa confirmed, nodding, "but it seems that yesterday, you shared different opinions on the matter, did you not? I know this because last night at dinner we were treated by Teo to a fascinating disquisition on the wonder of twenty-first-century telecommunications technology. Did you know that when you send a letter in the firs twenty-first century, it can be received almost immediately?'

"I think you're talking about an e-mail," Sokka corrected faintly.

Sokka was treated to two different sets of glares. 

"Well," Miss Ursa continued, "Teo seemed to know _all_ about it."

"I don't understand," Katara cut in, "is that a problem?"

Miss Ursa removed herself from the counter and began pacing around the room, "As an ymbryne, it is my sworn duty to keep those children save and above all that means keeping them _here_ in the loop, on this island.

Your world is a world that they can never be a part of, so what's the use of filling their heads with grand talk about exotic wonders of the future? Wonders that they will never and can never experience? Now you've got half the children begging for a jet-airplane trip across the pond and the other half dreaming of the day when they can own a telephone-computer like yours."

"I'm sorry," said Katara, "we didn't realize."

Sokka nodded his agreement, "I'm sorry too."

"This is their home," Miss Ursa continued, "I have tried to make it as fine a place as I could, but the plain fact is they cannot leave, and I'd appreciate it if youd din't make them want to."

"Why can't they?" Sokka asked.

Miss Ursa stopped her pacing and levelled Sokka and Katara with a sad look, "They cannot linger in your world, because in a short time they would die--cease to exist practically."

"Cease to exist?" Katara asked, concern and fear laced in her voice. 

Sokka felt his face pale. Cease to exist. They would cease to exist if they stepped too long in the modern world. Had he endangered Zuko's life yesterday when he insisted that Zuko follow him into the modern world?

"They cease to exist," Miss Ursa confirmed, nodding solemnly, "It may appear as if we've found a way to cheat death, but it's an illusion, for nothing can cheat death. Living things come to exist in this world, they grow, and then they die, it is the way of life, and nothing can cheat that, not even peculiar persons. So as a punishment for avoiding aging and death for so long, we cease to exist when crossing over, it is the price we pay to live in loops; if the children are to spend too much time in the modern world, time and death will catch up to them, for you see they're not supposed to be there, they don't belong to that time, and so time will try and catch up so rapidly, it will rip their molecules apart and they will die--cease to exist."

Katara and Sokka let out identical gasps and hearing that.

"That's awful," said Katara emphatically

Sokka just stared numbly at the ground.

"The few instances of it that I've had the misfortune of witnessing are among the worst memories of my life, and let me assure you, I've lived long enough to see some truly dreadful things."

Sokka and Katara did not ask.

"Will the same thing happen to them if they leave the island?" Katara asked.

"No," Miss Ursa confirmed.

"So, if they wanted to, they could leave the island, correct?"

"They can and they can't," Miss Ursa said, "If they really wanted to leave the island, the could, but they don't for it is simply too dangerous."

"Because of the war?" Sokka asked.

"Because of the war," Miss Ursa confirmed, "but there are other dangers too."

"What other dangers?" Sokka asked.

But Miss Ursa did not elaborate, she just shooed Katara and Sokka outside through the side door in the kitchen that Sokka and Katara had utilized back in the modern world when they had first broken into the decrepit house.

"Never mind that," she said, forcing a smile, "enjoy the afternoon, play with the children, train your peculiarity. I'm sure you're dying to do all those things. I'll see the two of you later."

And with that, she retreated back into the kitchen and slammed the door in their faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This author's note is a bit long filled with ramblings, feel free to skip it 
> 
> It kind of bothered me how quickly Jacob got over the whole sheep thing. Those sheep were mutilated, and he just got over that so quickly, especially after his grandfather's death? Like, don't you have trauma? Also, it bothered me that Jacob's dad didn't want to...you know, leave? Like, in the books Jacob says that his friends were actually imaginary when the farmers were questioning him because his friends are technically dead and don't exist anymore, so it's not as if he could say he was hanging out with them. So, to Jacob's dad, his son has been hanging out in an abandoned, bombed out mansion in the middle of the woods all by himself for the entire day, sometimes coming back wearing the clothes of dead people, and the only thing he does upon finding out about that is threatening to call his therapist and being mad at him for lying. Personally, I would take my son, leave the island, and drag him back into therapy upon finding out about that. I would be very concerned about his mental state and well-being, and staying in that island will probably do him more harm than good. Especially after the whole sheep thing. I mean, farmers threatened to belt your son and some sheep got horribly mutilated horror movie style, I think that's a huge warning sign from God to just get the hell out of that island. And they just decided to STAY. So, I had to fix that.
> 
> I also changed the whole they grow old and die to they cease to exist because I found the idea of dating someone who is technically like 86 or something weird, and the idea that they can just age rapidly and die is sort of like saying, "You see these children? Yeah, they aren't children, they're 85-year-olds who look like children, but they're not children because the moment they step foot into the modern times they turn 85, then die." So I changed it. The way I see it, these children are legitimate children. They can't age, and they can't mature mentally either. So physically and mentally, they're children, and I wanted the danger of going to the modern world to reflect that, so instead of growing old and dying, they just die and stop existing.


	18. Jet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka meets Jet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this on a chromebook and i'm not used to writing on a keyboard this small, so I'm sorry if there are more mistakes than usual.
> 
> I've added twenty more chapters to this story. Will it need twenty more chapters? I'm not 100% sure, but I decided to just play it safe.
> 
> Unrelated, I have a stomach ache.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented, left a kudos, or bookmarked this, I appreciate very much.

Sokka blinked when at the sound of the door slamming before turning back to his sister with a questioning look. Katara just raised her eyebrows at him.

He knew, as well as she did, that there might be something seriously wrong with this island--both in the present day and in 1940s day. 

"I'm going to..." Katara trailed off, frowning at the floor.

She huffed in frustration before shrugging, "I'm going to find Hama," she settled on.

Sokka blinked at her, "Hama?"

Katara nodded, "Yeah. Yesterday, Yue told me that she might be able to help me with my peculiarity, that's her job or something. To help introduce new peculiars to...that."

She trailed off awkwardly and nodded, as if assuring herself of something before taking off and running into the yard, clearly not wanting to enter through the door that Miss Ursa had just slammed shut.

Sokka just stared after her, not sure of what to do himself.

The newfound knowledge that his friends would die and cease to exist if they spent too long in the modern world left his head reeling and with more questions. There was also the whole "other dangers" thing that worried him as well, and clearly, Miss Ursa didn't want to elaborate too much on either topic.

Sokka wanted to spend some more time with Zuko, he really did, especially now that he knew that his trip here would be cut short at any moment, so he should probably take advantage of the time that he did have.

But, he should probably take advantage of the time that he did have and go talk to Yue, for multiple reasons.

For one, Yue was nice and she was shaping to be a really good friend to Sokka. Two, Yue was smart, or she _seemed_ to be smart, and she clearly knew quite a lot about the island, and she probably knew a lot about the repercussions loops have on the people that live in them and about the _other dangers._

So, perhaps the smarter, more reasonable idea would be to spend what little time he has left with Yue.

Making up his mind, Sokka descended into the backyard set on looking for Yue, which would probably be a bit difficult due to Yue's invisibility, but Sokka was sure that he'd be able to find her. It seemed that she enjoyed sneaking up on people a lot, so maybe she'd find him first.

"Hello, Sokka," a cool voice rang out.

The backyard was almost entirely empty, Katara had already disappeared back into the house and it seemed that the children preferred to spend their time in the front yard or inside the house. 

Sokka turned around and saw Azula leaning up against a tree with her arms crossed, looking like a villain in a cheesy action flick.

"Azula," he said as a way of greeting.

Azula tilted her head as a form of acknowledgment.

"Are you enjoying the day so far?" She asked, her steely eyes boring into Sokka's.

Sokka shrugged, "Sure? I mean, I just got here and all, but I guess I'm fine."

Azula nodded and analyzed her sharp nails, "Right. And why are you in such a hurry? Going somewhere specific?"

"I guess. I'm kind of looking for someone right now if you don't mind." 

Azula's eyes flashed with an emotion that Sokka couldn't quite place, and they flickered between focusing on him and focusing on her nails.

"And this someone wouldn't happen to be my brother, would it?"

"Umm...no? I'm actually looking for Yue, there's something I want to talk to her about."

Azula's eyes flashed again, but this time Sokka picked up on something dangerous. She leveled him with an intense stare, that made Sokka feel like the worst man alive.

Eventually, her features morphed and her face melted into a pleasant smile. This act was not unlike the one that Miss Ursa had done earlier, but Miss Ursa had made it seem seamless and real. Azula made it seem seamless, but Sokka could tell that the smile wasn't real at all. 

"You know, Sokka, there's someone you have yet to meet."

Sokka raised his eyebrows in slight shock, "Is there?" He counted in his head the children that he met, eleven, and he counted the number of kids Gran-Gran had told him and Katara about, which was twelve.

Someone was missing, but to Sokka's knowledge, that someone was dead--or gone, at least.

Azula smiled snidely, "There is. I know him very well, and I know that he is very excited to meet you. Frankly, it's a little rude of you to not have introduced yourself sooner." 

Sokka wanted to point that whoever this person was never made any efforts to meet Sokka before this, but he decided that the wiser thing was not to.

"Okay...who are they?" Sokka asked, not believing that some other kid was hiding in the mansion that Sokka has yet to meet.

Azula's grin grew sharper, more menacing.

"Jet."

And, well, Sokka couldn't help it. He just burst out laughing right there. 

Azula's smile slowly morphed into a pretty terrifying frown.

"What?" She hissed.

"I don't mean to be rude or insensitive," Sokka began in between chuckles, "but...Jet's dead, isn't he? I know that no one's told me, but, it's not that hard to figure out."

Azula scowled at him before putting on the nice facade again, "You know, there's a lot about this place that you don't know. You think you know everything, but you really don't. I'm sure there's a lot that Zuzu conveniently forgot to tell you, right? I bet there are many things that Miss Ursa will refuse to elaborate on, because she's out of time, or maybe it isn't really all that important, right? Because if you knew, then you wouldn't want to stay anymore, and we can't have that, right? We can't have you leaving just like Kanna did, correct?" 

As quickly as it had come, Sokka's good mood evaporated.

Sokka found himself scowling as he spoke his next words, "What do you want, Azula?"

Azula chuckled, "Me? Nothing. I just want to help you. I'm sure there's a lot that you're dying to know about this place, correct?"

Sokka found himself nodding.

Azula's smile grew wider and into something dangerous, "Now, I can't tell you these things myself, otherwise, I'll get into trouble with The Bird and Zuzu will never let me hear the end of it, but I know someone who will. Jet. He'll tell you everything you need and could want to know; he's never been one to care for repercussions."

Sokka frowned at her, "Jet's dead," he repeated, "you're lying."

Azula's grin grew wider still, "Now, why would I lie?"

* * *

Sokka found himself standing in front of Jet's room, Azula standing next to him.

Sokka shot her an apprehensive look, and she gave him an encouraging smile in turn that was not all that encouraging. 

"Well," she said, motioning for him to hurry up, "go on."

Sokka looked back at the door before him with a nervous expression before settling his nerves and stepping forwards. Wanting to be polite, Sokka knocked on the door first. From behind him, he heard Azula scoff.

There was no answer, and Sokka shot Azula a questioning look.

Azula raised a brow at him, "What?"

Sokka gestured at the door with his head, "No one answered."

"And?"

"Why wouldn't he answer?"

Azula groaned dramatically, the way one would when talking to an idiot, before she began speaking again, "I already told you," she said in a tone reserved for children when explaining something obvious and simple, "Jet is a recluse; he doesn't like human interaction."

"That doesn't make this better," Sokka pointed out, "if he's reclusive, why would he want to talk to me?"

Azula sighed, "Jet is a recluse, but if anything, he loves undermining authority more than he likes isolation. You'll be fine."

Sokka looked at her silently for a few seconds before speaking again, "You do know that I don't actually want to undermine anyone's authority, right? I already got in trouble with Miss Ursa today once, I don't want to get in trouble with her again."

"I'm looking out for you, don't worry. Now, just step inside the room already."

She gestured at the door and the look on her face suggested that there was no room for arguments. 

Hesitantly, Sokka twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open.

He went to step inside the room but stopped when he noticed that Azula wasn't moving.

"Are...are you coming or...?"

Azula rolled her eyes at him, "I told you that Jet's a recluse. He can only talk to one person at a time before it overwhelms him."

Sokka didn't necessarily believe Azula, but she was an intimidating person and he didn't feel like arguing with her again.

He quietly stepped into the room and looked around.

At first glance, it all seemed pretty standard and normal.

The walls were painted a light shade of white, there was a wooden desk in the corner with clothes piled on. Sokka noticed some swords and other types of weapons strung about, hanging proudly on the walls of the bedroom, and he noticed a traditional beekeeper's hat hanging of a hatrack in one of the other corners.

Upon closer inspection, there were a couple of things wrong with it all.

Sokka noticed a handful of envelopes with black and white string carefully placed on one of the bedside tables. 

The envelopes were fanned around an incense burner and behind the burner, there was a portrait, black-and-white photograph of Jet's face. In the photograph, Jet was smirking mischievously at the camera and there were bees covering part of his face.

Placed on either side of the photograph were white lotus lotus flowers. Three on the left side, three on the right.

In the center of the room, there was a bed with white blankets and white comforting, and lying still on the bed was a boy with tan skin and shaggy black hair.

The boy was dressed in all white. What Sokka found a bit odd was that sticking in between his teeth was a chopstick. 

Coming closer, Sokka noticed a small knife lying innocently on Jet's stomach, and there was wording inscribed that Sokka couldn't read due to it having been written in what seemed to be Japanese kanji. 

On the other bedside table, there was another photograph of Jet, mirroring the other one. This time, Jet wasn't covered in bees and he was smiling serenely at the camera. Like on the other table, there were flowers on either side of the photo, three flowers on each side. There was another incense burner in front of the photograph, but this time there was food surrounding it instead of envelopes. 

The food consisted of three bowls of rice and three cups of tea, and three hard-boiled eggs on a plate.

There was a glass case and in the glass case, there were a bunch of dead bees.

Sokka glanced back at the boy, he seemed to be sleeping but Sokka knew that he was actually dead.

Sokka turned around and Azula was now standing in the doorway of the room, her arms crossed and a self-satisfied smile on her face. 

"Why did you bring me in here?" Sokka asked, his voice in a defeated whisper.

Azula shrugged, "So, that you could learn," she said simply, then her face darkened, "and to give you a word of warning."

"So that I could learn what?" Sokka asked, glaring at her, "Warn me of _what_?"

Azula glowered at him before speaking, stepping further into the room, "So that you could learn what it is that everyone else is hiding," she said, her hazel eyes clouding, "that this place isn't a magical world where we live happily ever after every day and toss away all our troubles and worries, it's a _nightmare,"_ she spit out the world nightmare, her eyes softening ever so slightly as she looked over at Jet before they darkened again, "a nightmare that you can never escape from. A nightmare filled with monsters and other unimaginable dangers."

Her eyes roved over his face and she smirked again, "But if you really are as smart as you say you are, then I'm sure you've already figured some of that out."

Sokka scowled at her, "Is that the warning?" 

"No. The warning is for you to stay away from my brother."

At this, Sokka raised a brow.

Azula noticed this and she gave him a mean look, "You and I both know that you don't belong here, isn't that right?" She asked, smiling cruelly, "And even if you _did_ belong, you would have left anyway. Just like Kanna did, just like Lu Ten did, just like Jet did. So, go ahead and do all of us a favor and leave now before you hurt someone the way you and I both know you'll do eventually."

"What was the point of bringing me up here?" Sokka asked faintly.

Azula smirked, "I think I already told you that, didn't I?" 

"You aren't supposed to be up here," a familiar voice said.

Sokka glanced over Azula to see Zuko standing at the doorway of the room, right where Azula had been earlier. He had a sad, tired, defeated expression on his face, and Sokka noticed him blinking away a few unshed tears as he took in .the scene before him and he felt guilt coming over him for multiple reasons.

"I'm sorry," Sokka whispered, "I didn't know."

But he did know, didn't he? He knew, and he'd come up here anyway.

Zuko's eyes snapped to him, "Know _what_?" Zuko asked, his voice choked.

"Know that your _friend_ was dead," Azula answered, looking at her brother, "in fact, Sokka and I were just having a rather riveting chat about it just now."

Zuko's eyes snapped to Azula instead, a hard look came over him, " _You_ brought him up here?" He sounded betrayed.

Zuko walked further in the room as Azula answered, to where Jet's corpse was, and began to smooth out his hair.

"It was for your own good," Azula defended haughtily, crossing her arms, "Sokka needed to know."

Zuko shut his eyes tightly, a few tears escaping and rolling down his face, "No, he _didn't_!" He snapped.

Azula scowled at him, "He did. Don't get so choked, he needed to know that this was a dangerous place. He's getting the wrong idea, you know, and I personally just find that to be cruel."

A tear slid down Zuko's face and onto Jet's white clothes and Zuko hurried to wipe it off.

Azula rolled her eyes, "You were always so _sensitive_ ," she said, "why can't you just move on?"

"I am," Zuko defended, "I'm trying."

Azula glared at Sokka then. 

"Ursa never moved on either," she said, "it's why she's always wearing black and why she never lets anyone in here. She seems to believe in the mantra of 'out of sight, out of mind,' it's why she won't tell us that Kanna is dead, even though we all already know." 

"It's for the sake of the younger ones," Zuko defended faintly.

"The younger ones deserve to know too instead of being lied to," Azula argued before rolling her eyes again. She looked back at Sokka for a minute before smiling smugly, "Well, I told you what I wanted you to know, and it seems the two of you have much to discuss, so I'll be taking my leave. Be careful, by the way, I heard Miss Ursa walking around upstairs, wouldn't want her to find out that you've been breaking more of her rules."

And with that, she walked right out of the room, her head held high, before slamming the door shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really excited to write this chapter. I don't know why, I don't know what about this particular chapter made me want to write it so much, but it did. In fact, this chapter is what made me want to write this story in the first place, so I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it (even if it was on a weird chromebook keyboard)
> 
> The envelope with the black and white string is a Japanese tradition done when somebody dies. Guests attending the funeral will typically bring a gift in an envelope, the gift is usually money, tied with black and white string.
> 
> Burning incense and gifting money and food and having a portrait of the deceased are Vietnamese traditions, and in this story Jet is Vietnamese. The chopstick is a Vietnamese Vietnamese funerary traditions. Placing a knife on a person's stomach after they've passed is also a Vietnamese tradition and it is done to ward off evil spirits. Dressing up the corpse in all white is also a Vietnamese tradition, and so is using white flowers to pay your respects. I think the white flower thing is also a Japanese tradition but I'm not 100% sure. White Lotus flowers (ha) are the most common flowers used in Vietnamese funerals and they're metaphors for the cycle of life, and they symbolize purification and regeneration. Vietnamese people believe that odd numbers are lucky during funerals, and while I don't know typically if this applies to flowers, I made sure to give Jet three odd numbers of flowers on each side of his photo, just in case. Three bowls of rice, three cups of tea, and hardboiled eggs are traditional Vietnamese funeral food for altar rituals.


	19. When Kanna Left

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka finally starts to learn some of the truth about living in a time loop and the other dangers of being peculiar. Zuko gets to open up about loss and some other feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to update this last Tuesday, because all of my classes were cancelled on Tuesday, so I had a day off. But then guess what happened. I got tired and didn't feel like doing anything at all, so I didn't write it. And then, I was too tired to write anything that weekend either, so I didn't. Instead, you guys get the chapter today, isn't that fun?
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented, left a kudos, or bookmarked this story. It is very much appreciated and it gives me a lot of motivation to keep on writing, so thanks!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter.

Sokka tentatively glanced back at Zuko who was crying softly by Jet's body.

He didn't know what to say, because what could you say? I'm sorry that I did what your sister told me to do and discovered your friend's dead body? I'm sorry that you had to be reminded of a tragic loss because of me?

Well, he supposed that apologizing was a start.

"Zuko," he began softly, "I'm sorry--really, I--I didn't know about Jet... _well_ , I _guess_ I did _know_ , I just didn't know that it was that bad." Sokka chuckled awkwardly as his sentence petered off, sure that he was just making this situation all the worse.

Zuko sniffled slightly and wiped at his eyes, "It's fine," he said in a tone that suggested that he was not fine at all. 

Sokka cleared his throat, not knowing what he could possibly say to remedy this situation. 

"I think I'm...going to go now," Sokka said, chuckling awkwardly as he inched towards the door, "I hope you...feel better?"

Zuko composed himself, or well, _tried_ to compose himself, quickly standing up and reaching out for Sokka, "No," he cried, "wait!"

Just as soon as Zuko had said that, a pair footsteps sounded from out in the hallway, the _click-clack_ of heels ringing out through the quiet upstairs. Sokka and Zuko exchanged a panicked look as they tried their best not to make a sound. The footsteps stopped abruptly, right in front of the door to Jet's room and the person on the other side lingered there for a moment before continuing to walk away.

Sokka huffed out a relieved sigh before turning back to Zuko, "Was there something you wanted to tell me?" He asked.

Zuko hastily cleared his throat and wiped away at the few remaining tears at his eyes, "Yes, actually," he said, his voice hoarse and shaky, "I...um. I wanted to tell you about... _this_." He finished lamely, emphasizing the word _this_ as if it meant something significant. Sokka, for his part, just continued to look at Zuko in confusion.

"This?" He questioned.

"Yes," Zuko said, nodding, " _this_."

"...Okay?"

"Azula's right," Zuko continued, "you should know."

_Oh_.

"Zuko," Sokka began hesitantly, "you don't have to tell me anything, you know? Especially if you don't want to."

Zuko didn't answer, he just stood there glaring down at the floor. After a minute, he cleared his throat and looked up at Sokka with a determined expression, "Let's go to my room," he said, and then without waiting, he marched forwards and threw the door open and exited the room, clearly assuming that Sokka would follow. And Sokka did.

Sokka followed Zuko down the hall and into Zuko's room. Briefly he wondered if Jet's death had anything to do with the other dangers that Miss Ursa had mentioned earlier. 

"How did Jet die?" Sokka asked the minute the door was closed. Belatedly, he realized that asking this outright could be perceived as insensitive, but well, Zuko did say that Sokka deserved to know. He didn't specify what, but Sokka assumed that whatever happened to Jet also fell under that category.

Zuko stiffened and shot Sokka a half-hearted glare before clearing his throat again, "He left." Was Zuko's answer.

Zuko took the liberty of seating down on his bed for this conversation while Sokka hovered around awkwardly. Zuko's answer wasn't really that much of an answer, and it left much to be desired.

"Left?" Sokka questioned.

"I mean he left the loop," Zuko clarified. He sounded angry, but Sokka wasn't sure if he was angry at Sokka or at someone else. Maybe Azula?

"Is that how he died?" Sokka asked, not sure of when or if he was overstepping some sort of boundary.

"Yes."

Sokka blinked and took in Zuko's answers as he began to pace around the room. He supposed it made sense, after all, Miss Ursa _had_ mentioned earlier that if a peculiar were to leave a loop for too long they would die, so maybe that was what had happened to Jet. But...

"I thought you would cease to exist if you left the loop," Sokka pointed out, "and I'm pretty sure that 'ceasing to exist' includes your body disappearing forever or something. And...well, I'm sure that you've noticed but, Jet still has a body."

"So, you know about that, then."

"Uh, yeah. Miss Ursa may have mentioned it earlier when she was scolding me and Katara for revealing too much information about the future, why? Is that what actually happened to Jet? Did I get the whole ceasing to exist thing wrong?"

"No," Zuko sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Jet didn't cease to exist. He was killed. He left the loop and he was killed."

"Oh."

_Killed by what?_

Sokka didn't ask, not wanting to make this situation worse. Besides, he already got the feeling that whatever it was that had killed Jet had something to do with the _other dangers_ that Miss Ursa had mentioned earlier.

"I'm sorry," Sokka said, not knowing what else to do. Does he hug Zuko? Does he place a reassuring hand on Zuko's shoulders? Does he ask another question? Sokka is so lost. He'd assume that since he had been in a similar position with Gran-Gran he would know what--

Wait a minute.

Gran-Gran.

"Don't be," Zuko was saying, but Sokka ignored him in lieu of spitting out what he had told himself he wouldn't ask.

"Killed by what?" Sokka asked, breathless.

Zuko blinked at him before quickly turning his head away, "I'm not supposed to say."

Sokka nearly scoffed at that, "No offense, dude, but I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be saying _any_ of this to me," Sokka pointed out, "what's one more thing."

Zuko visibly hesitated for a moment before giving in, "Okay," he sighed before fidgeting awkwardly, "It was...um...a monster. It was a monster."

Sokka turned to him and grinned, " _Gran-Gran_ was killed by a monster!"

Zuko frowned at him and Sokka quickly composed himself, realizing what that looked and sounded like, "I--I probably shouldn't sound so... _excited_ about that, should I?"

"Yes," Zuko agreed, "it was inappropriate."

Sokka finger gunned at him, "Gotcha," he said before chuckling awkwardly, not knowing how else to act when Zuko was pinning him with such an intense stare.

He cleared his throat before he continued talking, "Gran-Gran was recently killed by a monster, and Jet was also killed by a monster. Are these two events connected? Or is the monster that killed Jet the reason why Gran-Gran didn't want me and Katara going to the island? When was Jet killed? Also, who's Lu Ten?"

Zuko worried his bottom lip before he answered, "Jet was killed two weeks after Kanna left," he said before pausing. He seemed to be having an internal debate with himself before continuing. "Kanna..." Zuko trailed off before giving Sokka a look, "I think," he said, "that you should know about what happened when Kanna left."

Sokka paused and gave Zuko a confused look before nodding, "Okay."

He sat down at the bed next to Zuko and waited for him to continue talking.

"Kanna..." he trailed off again and heaved out a frustrated sigh before starting over again, "So as you know, on the third of September, the Germans went off course and attacked this island with bombs. After Miss Ursa had placed the loop, Kanna had decided that she couldn't live like this anymore. She couldn't...she didn't like the idea of living in a paradise whilst her people were being hunted and killed everyday when she could do something about it. Hama, in a very uncharacteristic Hama way, pointed out that there _was_ nothing that Kanna could do. Said the best she'd do was help out by being a nurse and healing injured soldiers and what not, but Kanna decided that that wasn't good enough, so she insisted on fighting out in the frontlines. Miss Ursa was horrified by what Kanna had wanted to do and tried to encourage her not to, but Kanna didn't listen. So she disguised herself as a man, borrowed some of my clothes, and left.

"This created a sort of upheaval between us all. We really liked Kanna, and we were all going to miss her dearly, but...let's just say that in a way, Kanna inspired Jet. Jet was....Jet was a very spirited person; he didn't like to be tied down and he liked to live fast and to live in the moment. The idea of not just being able to not leave the island, but the idea of being forced to relive the same day over and over again, it was stifling to Jet, and he despised it. Barely a week into living in a loop and he was already insisting on leaving. Then, one day, he figured that if Kanna was able to leave and join a war, then so could he. So that's what he tried to do, but Miss Ursa didn't like it and she, well, she forbid him from leaving, forbided all of us from leaving. She said it was too dangerous, that we'd die and such. Nobody questioned her, nobody but Jet that is. And Jet decided that he would leave anyways, with or without Miss Ursa's permission. So one day, Jet turns to me and insists that we run away together. He insists that living in a loop wasn't living at all and that he and I were made for greater things and kept insisting I go with him. I couldn't leave with him, even if I wanted to. Miss Ursa...I owe Miss Ursa my life for all that she's done for me, not to mention Azula. I couldn't just leave my sister behind. So I couldn't, I couldn't leave. 

"Jet, well, Jet got cross with me for that. Called me a coward and that I didn't know how to live, that I didn't do anything and that I never risked things, and then he said that he would be leaving, with or without me. And he did. I didn't think he would, which was a lack of foresight on my part, but he left, and I never saw him alive again. I told Miss Ursa that Jet had left. Maybe I thought that she would stop him or something, and she took off, left me and Hama in charge of the younglings and when she came back, she came back with his body. He had been killed by a monster. Not just any monster, but the specific monster that's been endangering us ever since ever since we'd found out we were peculiar, Hollows."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is kind of short, but I wanted to get something out this weekend since I didn't last weekend. I also have a lot of work that is still need to get done today, and so I couldn't spend all of my time on this chapter, sorry about that. 
> 
> I'm really excited for the next three chapters, lots of homoerotic bonding, you know? I don't know when those will be out, but hopefully I'll get one done by tomorrow (or super later today) fingers crossed.
> 
> Also, I have a tumblr now, if you wanna check me out over there or something:  
> https://spiderwebbb.tumblr.com/


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